Waters Of Time
by Raeghann
Summary: Time, it whispers along as intangible as the wind, running through our hands as elusive as water. What if that flow could be capped or contained like water in a bottle? I'm not claiming the power, only that I experienced the results. In the end I found a
1. Prolouge

Authors Note: I'm reposting this; it appears that I'm having a little issue with FFN. Every time I have posted a new story I can't find it on the front pages. I've looked and looked. I'm not sure this is being posted correctly so here goes the second try. Thank you for your patience and I hope that those that have read this thus far will continue to do so. Thanks again!  
  
Prologue  
  
Time, it whispers along as intangible as the wind, running through our hands as elusive as water. We can never have enough of it, yet we often wish it would pass quickly. Often we have wished to turn time back, whether to fix a mistake we have made or to simply live in a time we think we would belong better in.  
  
Yes I speak of time travel, something that has been disputed, romanticized, and written about for longer than any of us can pinpoint. For most it is an actual impossibility, for some of us time whispers in our ear. For some of us we can feel it passing, rushing along like the water in a river. What if that flow could be capped or contained like water in a bottle? I'm not claiming the power, only that I experienced the results. There are things in this world far more powerful than the mere mortal. I have no doubts of that.  
  
For longer than I can remember I felt out of place, I did not belong in the time I lived in and like most I sought out the art of acting and re- enactment. I attempted to learn the mannerisms, the speech, the costuming of a time long forgotten. Call it what you will, old souls, reincarnation. I believe in reality we are just misplaced, destined to live in a time that we are not born to. I tried to live as I could, my very soul cried for something more, something I could never satisfy it with. Though I made a very valiant attempt, to soothe my longing and bury it the only way I though possible.  
  
I attempted to relive it in the only way I knew how, much to the confusion and chagrin of my family. I even learned to sword fight though I knew that no lady of "my time" as I called it would have learned such a sport. Or at least very few women in recorded history had ever learned to a point of historical recognition.  
  
The one thing I never counted on was fate, the unseen hand that is more than often disputed or discounted. It is an unseen hand and whether we wish to admit to a certain control that is not our own in our lives it exists. There are somethings that can not be coincidence. I prefer to believe it is God, for it is much more comforting to believe that something much wiser than yourself is the one guiding you, that through the trials you face in the end it will be alright.  
  
I am thankful for the chance I was given for while I left behind a man I loved. I found a love that is beyond what I could have ever imagined. I found that love can be fickle especially in the confines of the twentieth century, but that when constant it is a force to be reckoned with. I learned that you can fight it, but in the end it will claim you or leave you a ruined shell of a person. My grandmother loved like that, but in the twentieth century it is a dying emotion. I fought it, I tried to remember that I had only to get back, but in the end it was not what was planned for me. They say God never gives us more than we can handle and it is true, it's just that we may not want to handle what he gives us. At times it tries us beyond what we wish to live through. In the end though the rewards are great.  
  
Remember that there are rewards for sometimes that is all that will get you through. Read my story, learn from it, or take it as from a babbling idiot, but for those of you that understand my longings. Take my story to heart, learn for you may find as I have and others before me have that your time is coming.  
  
- Lillia Jameson 


	2. The Waters

Okay now for the disclaimer, so for now and the rest of the story, the characters that are owned by Disney unfortunately are still owned by Disney only borrowed by me. I own all the characters that were created by me. Enjoy!  
  
I suppose I shall begin my story with Aunt Morai, an odd place for a story to start, but really it is her to which all blame and thanks to my story falls, for she was the beginning. It began with dressing up as a child; she always made the most wonderful dress up clothes.  
  
If I think hard enough I can still hear her tell me how a real princess would act and dress. Most mothers and aunts give girls dress up clothes and leave them alone. My mother never had time for dress up clothes, and my aunt had a particular way of dressing me up. I can remember helping her sew such costumes and came to enjoy the feel of cloth running through my hands as I fed it to the sewing machine needle. I learned to match fabrics, and depending on the character I played, which costume would be the most appropriate. She took me with her to re-enactment meetings and I played with the other children whose parents too taught them such things. I can remember at the age of five wondering why the other children did not wear bloomers under their dresses as I did. For my costuming bled even into my every day wear. My teachers thought it adorable and my mother found it irritating. She never understood my Aunt Morai or her brother, my Uncle Gabriel's fascination with the past  
  
Eventually it got to the point that not only did I know how to wear the costumes, but also I knew how to act in it, I knew how to dress my hair, and what jewelry if any needed to be added. By the age of ten I could tell you exactly what a woman of the mid 1600's to the late 1700's would wear and often corrected movies on the accuracy of the costuming worn. It annoyed the hell out of my mother and father.  
  
While they were not that bad as parents, they were unfortunately the practical sort. My mother married my father because he was a good and practical man. Not given to flights of whimsy as her other male relatives were. Still, to be a whimsical child trapped with two terrifyingly practical parents we did not often see eye to eye. There was be no fairytale stories, no happy Disney tales, instead I was raised on classic tales with good strong and apparent morals. It was no wonder I turned to my Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel, while the whimsical gene had passed my mother it had turned up in spades in my uncle. Mother, as I was taught to call her, (there was no Mommy or Mom, it was Mother, always Mother) did not have the time to pound the practicality into me. For that I will be eternally grateful.  
  
Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel were my lifeline, my confidants, the people I secretly wished were my real parents. They understood me in a way my parents never could and never would. If need be they often went to bat for me. I remember that at the age of twelve my mother bought me a Halloween costume. Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel were on vacation and I didn't have a new costume, which quite frankly never bothered me. I always had an extra costume or two lying about. Some that I had made with Aunt Morai, but more that she had made for me. Like most children's mothers, mine bought it off the rack at a grocery store. Though you must understand she did not particularly like Halloween, for that matter I don't remember any holiday being of particular importance to her.  
  
The dress was horrid, truly horrid, and I know she wanted me to wear it as a way to thrust home how ridiculous it was to dress up. Trust me, it was not a gesture of loving parental whim. Remember that my parents did not know the meaning of whim. Everything was carefully planned and calculated. Instead it was a way to teach me the importance of being an adult, that Halloween was a fool's holiday and I had better return to the real world lest I end up like Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel. Not that I thought they were particularly bad off, actually Aunt Morai was an heiress and they lived quite comfortably.  
  
Anyway back to the dress, it was made of that horrible nylon that was supposed to pretend to be satin. Not to mention it was a pastel pink and that just wouldn't do. You see until the mid- 1700's only dark rich colors were worn. Anything pale had been washed too often and would have been given to the servants to salvage. The dress was in the rough and inelegant cut of an attempt at Elizabethan glory. The battle raged for days, until a package arrived from England where Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel had vacationed and inside I found a dress of rich emerald colored velvet, cream brocade and bright golden trim, complete with hair combs, hoop skirts, and corset. My mother was livid, but somehow I managed to prevail and wore Aunt Moria's dress instead of Mothers.  
  
I reminded her how horrible it would be to waste such a beautiful, expensive, and heartfelt gift. My mother argued, but when I also reminded her of how upset Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel would be she surprisingly became quiet.  
  
You see, Mother had disowned her own mother and all the money had been left to Uncle Gabriel and Aunt Morai. The one thing my practical mother did because she could not deal with my grandmother's fanciful attitude ended up costing her more that she could afford. My Aunt and Uncle paid for my schooling and had paid my father's debts, therefore she would not risk alienating them. Mother remained furious and when she confronted Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel they just smiled and patted my shoulder as one does to a child one is proud of.  
  
It was not a new fight and it always ended with my mother scowling and telling them to teach me something more useful. My father, if he was around, would expound upon the follies of silly daydreams and sillier legends. From there he would argue with Uncle Gabriel about whether or not some legends were fact and some were fiction. The argument would end and then Aunt Morai would tell my mother how much like my great-great- grandmother Briar I was like. I think she did it to get under my mother's skin because it would send my mother practically into convulsions.  
  
Time passed and when I was fifteen, mother and father died in a boating accident in the Caribbean, leaving my Aunt and Uncle to raise me. As they were not able to have any children of their own it was rather ideal for them. According to them, they got to miss the diaper changing and the late night feeding and jump straight to the fun years. I'm not sure how as a precocious teenager they could possibly have found me fun, but they did in their own way.  
  
Not a day went by they didn't encourage my interest in history, and I followed it, to the point that I entered a re-enactment group interested by the sword fighting and of course the incredibly good looking captain of the group. At first it was just a way to get the hunk to put his arms around me while I got to wear pretty dresses, but eventually I found I had a talent for the rapier and the quarterstaff. Just like my great-great- grandmother Briar, the more time went on the more I was told I was like her. I began to wonder if that was a good thing. The cottage that had been owned by my family in upstate New York we visited regularly and I had seen the portrait my great-great-grandfather Michael had painted of her scarred back. I knew her story and I knew her mistakes had been whoppers, what I didn't understand was that we shared far more than looks and disposition. We shared the gift of a time walker.  
  
Time walker is what I call myself, for that is what I did. I walked through the waters of time and came out on the other side to a love that I was meant for in time I was meant for, to a life I was meant for. The research I have done tells me this is a hereditary trait that it has been passed down to me, for only the blood of a time walker can awaken the Stones of Ambrosias. Thirteen stones in all, each a different shade of color, created by Merlinus Ambrosias himself legend says. Each was created with the ability to take the correct owner to the place they were meant to be. According to legend if they were all combined they could take the owner of all of them to when ever, where ever. That person would have control over time and with that time they could control life and destiny. It was a power too strong and brought about the downfall of Camelot, and Merlinus Ambrosias imprisoned for it.  
  
By the time I was born to the world, the legend of the Stones had been long forgotten and only the use of the one stone we had was known, and only my Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel understood it's power, though they thought it had disappeared with Briar.  
  
It wasn't until I had followed the re-enactment group to the England for a gig that it began to stir. It wasn't until I was already engaged to another man, a man so much like my father that this was to be my last gig with the group. The last time I would publicly wield a sword in my hand, for in essence I was going to have to give it all up. The group however did not know this for I did not want my last trip with the group to be overshadowed with sorrow. Unfortunately my fascination with history was as irritating to my fiancé as it had been to my father. He lived for the now and because I thought I loved him I was ready to give it all up for him. So it was with mixed feelings I said goodbye to my fiancé and left for England and my real destiny.  
  
I can remember that night as clear as crystal, for the sun had just set over the water, turning it's sky to a wealth of pinks, blues, and purples. A storm was moving in, and I could see the deep purple gray of the clouds just off the horizon beginning to cover the colors of the sunset. I could feel it in the waves under the dock below my feet. The kid shoes I wore offered little in the way of balance, for they were not meant for more than to look fashionable, still I was steadier than some. I had learned to fight in such shoes with all the hampering of a hoop and corset, therefore I was surprisingly steady.  
  
I stood on Executioner's Dock , the Thames River in front of me, and for some odd reason I felt a connection to this place. It was rather a morbid place for me to be, but it had caught my interest in a way that nothing had before. It was not so much the place as whom I had been informed had died here. Captain Jack Sparrow and his partner Will Turner had both died on this very dock, and their bodies displayed at the mouth of the Thames, at Graves Point, as had been the custom of their time. The Black Pearl had been the last of the actual Pirate ships and both Sparrow and Turner a dying breed. It was such a sad tale; it made me wonder what their lives had really been like.  
  
Part of our job, besides entertaining with sword fighting, would be to go with the tourist buses that were leaving from the site to popular tourist stops. I had taken the first busload as I was the first dressed and the last to fight. So I found myself with a bunch of tourists that asked stupid questions. Mostly about the comfortablity of my costume, which of course was not entirely comfortable, but I was used to it. However the sixteen people that had asked me all in an hour span, only reminded me of exactly how uncomfortable it can be. You learn quickly to ignore comfort and admire the way it makes you look. At the end of the day, though, getting out of costume can be pure heaven. Getting a deep breath out of your stomach and not light breathing out of your diaphragm is bliss.  
  
Back to my story though, I suffered through the crowd not really having time to pay attention to the guide, until we reached Executioners Dock. I ushered the people off the bus, not paying attention to anything other than counting them and listening to complaints of needing a bathroom, until I looked up at the actual Dock. It pulled at me like nothing ever had; no story had taken my attention as much as this did. I found myself wanting to cry while running my hands along the rough wooden dock. So entranced was I, I almost missed the bus and made myself late to my scheduled fight. So I ran for the bus cursing my damned shoes as I twisted my ankle and somehow managed to make it back just in time.  
  
Back at the grounds I had just enough time to grab my rapier and head for the stage.  
  
"You're ready right?" I can still hear Dorian ask me as I tucked my rapier under my arm and walked briskly to the stage. As our Captain, it was his job to worry about us all and as I had made such a late return he was of course concerned.  
  
"Of course I'm ready, I could do this fight in my sleep," I responded airily waving off his concern and handing my rapier off to one of the younger boys who were in charge of such things as I climbed the stairs. I knew he would make sure it was in its place. Well it was in its place, but my mind certainly wasn't, it was still back with Captain Jack and Will Turner's ill ended fate.  
  
I took my place and the crowd began to quiet, my stomach for once did not even butterfly as Dorian made his way into the crowd's view. We stood facing each other, his sword sheathed, mine lying on the table next to me.  
  
"Give it up Miss Cameron, your husband is dead, as is your brother, the Grants will have this land," Dorian called, I whirled to the table, taking up my sword.  
  
"But I am not, and as long as I breathe the Cameron's still hold this land, Angus Grant," I replied as I had for the past six months.  
  
"Then I'll be remedying that rather shortly," Dorian snapped stabbing at me swiftly, and just as swiftly I parried and counterattacked.  
  
"Perhaps," I said as I grabbed a plate from the table and flung it at his head. He ducked both the plate and my blade only to stab at my skirts. Our fight carried on a vicious battle that took fast reflexes and a lot of attention. It was near the end of the fight that I finally got myself into trouble. My necklace for some reason was warmer than my flesh and my ears ringing slightly. I caught a glimpse of a shadowy form just off the stage, dressed in what appeared to be some sort of pirate costume. The creature seemed to beckon me into the shadows, catching my attention for a moment too long. I blinked and shook my head, my mind flying back to the Dock and the stories I had heard. Unfortunately it was just enough to throw me off of my fight and get me hurt. Dorian was to stab low and then high, I was to dodge the lowered attack and then block with my blade for the upper attack, instead however, I blocked low, then stabbed low and stepped in instead of back. Dorian's blade tore right through the fabric of my sleeve and into my shoulder.  
  
The shock of the blade plunging into my flesh was enough to cause me to pause, pain firing through me with a deadly precision. Tears flooded my eyes and I barley suppressed a scream of pain. I managed to tone it to a groaning whimper. Dorian's eyes were wide with horror but we both recovered, the show was of the most importance. My health of course above it, but we had to get me off the stage without us looking both unprofessional and dangerous. Such accidents could ruin a fighting troop, if not handled properly.  
  
"Take her away," he said, his disgust real, the anger coming into his eyes letting me know I was in for a severe tongue-lashing. "I'll not kill a woman, no matter whose blood runs through her veins."  
  
I sagged against the men who had stood silently waiting for their cue to haul me off stage. I closed my eyes and muffled a sob as Alex and Eric gently led me off.  
  
I was lucky, it was not as severe as it could have been. It was deep enough to require stitches and I would not fight for the rest of the trip, but no real harm had come from it. So it was with irritation that during my last trip I was ever to take I had to have gotten hurt. A tongue- lashing I did receive, though thankfully after my wound had been dressed and I had been allowed to change clothes. Dorian was furious, even threatened to never let me do another fight and in anger I told him it was to be my last fight anyway. That stopped him dead for a moment and I took the silence to tell him I was leaving the group, exactly why I was leaving, and exactly where he could shove it. We said many angry things before I stormed out and walked off the grounds. My feet led me to a taxi and back to the docks.  
  
And here the beginning of my tale comes to a full circle to where I stood on the docks watching the sunset and approaching storm. The ocean tossed, the storm brewing and the salt water sprayed my pale green dress, darkening it to a rich sage. It no longer was affording me the warmth of layers. The wind whipped through my dress and made it flutter around me, but I still did not want to leave. Part of it was my fascination; part of it was I did not want to see Dorian.  
  
" Good God Lil, what are you doing here?" I glanced back to see Dorian walking toward me, so much for avoiding him. " I knew you had run off to sulk, but what a place to come."  
  
" I'm not sulking, all mighty leader," I snapped. " Just relieving a bit of history if you don't mind."  
  
" I heard you had been fascinated with this place," He sighed. " Though it is fascinating in a horror story kind of way, I wonder why you would bother coming back."  
  
"According to Aunt Morai, I get my oddness from my great-great- grandmother," I replied, my hand touching the stone that hung from my neck and stopped just above the bodice of my dress. My wealth of black curls were pulled up in some semblance of order and hidden underneath a hat, tied under my chin by a bit of chiffon. I agreed with Great- Great- Grandmother Briar, it was my one true beauty.  
  
"You're ruining your new dress with the spray from the salt water," He continued conversationally. " I must admit it's your finest yet."  
  
"Thank you," I replied absently. "They are getting easier and easier to make with every one I do."  
  
" Or your skill gets better every time you make a new dress."  
  
"Well that goes without saying Dorian," I told him, my eyes sparkling merrily as I continued our verbal play. He always knew how to tease me out of a bad mood, even if it had been him that caused it. " Practice, after all, I have heard does make perfect."  
  
" Yes it does," He replied, his voice becoming as soft as his eyes. " Look, I'm sorry about what I said, I've never seen you miss your mark, you just scared the hell out of me. You don't have to leave the group you know, you're one of the best rapier fighters we have."  
  
"Yes I do," I said trying desperately to keep back the hint of bitterness I knew crept in anyway.  
  
"You don't have to marry him," Dorian continued, putting a finger to my lips to hush to protests that were already forming. "The fact that he is asking you to sacrifice something you love because he doesn't understand it makes him an ass who doesn't deserve you."  
  
"Really," I said absently, having already had this conversation too often with him. Dorian was my self appointed big brother and had never liked Jeremy. "I don't see anyone better."  
  
"Then you are not looking hard enough," came Dorian's unexpected reply. It took a moment for it to sink in as my mind was still with the dock and its history. The moment it did I whirled around, nearly unbalancing myself as I did  
  
Dorian grabbed my arm to keep me from falling in the water, his eyes still a rich blue that had gone dark with hidden emotions.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean Dorian?" I asked my voice wavering in it's confusion, for years I had wanted Dorian, for years I had watched him dance past with nearly every girl under the sun.  
  
"You are much smarter than you let on most days Lillia," was his response. " You know what I meant."  
  
" For years I've chased you and you haven't given me the time of day." I growled pulling my arm from his grip in one swift tug nearly unbalancing him. " And now you decide you want me? You have got to be kidding me. I stand on the verge of happiness and you want to ruin it, all because you want what you can't have."  
  
" You stand on the verge of making the biggest mistake of your life Lil and you know it!" Dorian snapped back. " You don't love him and he can't possibly love you if he is asking you to give up the one thing you love the most in this world, but I didn't tell you this because I wanted to steal you away Lillia. I told you because I thought you should know. I figure I can't steal anyone away that doesn't want to be stolen, and I can see in your eyes you desperately do."  
  
"The only desperation is to get out of this conversation," I replied. " I can't handle this right now, I can't, it's hard enough that I'm leaving the group, it's hard enough I'm leaving you. Please, let's not leave each other fighting."  
  
"It would be easier than leaving you with this ache in my heart and the longing in your eyes." Dorian smiled sadly at me as he gently ran a finger down my cheek. " I'll leave you be for a while, but I expect you back at the hotel before dinner. You gave me quite a scare with that shoulder wound."  
  
"Hell, just another battle scar," I said lightly. " I think I would have made a rather dashing pirate."  
  
"Yes, beautiful and dashing, what more could a band of unwashed miscreants want for a captain?" Dorian teased.  
  
"I'm not thinking the beautiful would be a good requirement of a person required to lead those unwashed miscreants for days at a time in the middle of the ocean with no other women. Thanks for the flattery though," I said wryly. " I bet when they docked they were wild men."  
  
"It's not flattery Lillia," Dorian told me seriously. "You are beautiful."  
  
"If you don't stop, I'm going to have to throw you into the water to sober you up," I responded laughingly. He just nodded and turned away, I watched him go feeling a bit of regret. Dorian was a good man, an honorable man, far more honorable than the man I was going to marry, but it was too late. I too had a sense of honor and I wouldn't back out of the promises I had made. I longed to be anywhere else other than here. Any place where I wouldn't have to deal with the choices I had made, and the mistakes I was surely going to make.  
  
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me," a whispering voice sang across the water, in surprise I turned to find fog floating across the water at me, the necklace around my throat gave a flash of surprising heat. I gasped as I felt the hair prickling across my neck.  
  
"We pilige and pilfer and rifle and loot, drink up me hearties, yo ho," the words were slurred as they were sung and through the fog I caught the out line of two men, each holding each other up they were so drunk. "We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot, drink up me hearties yo ho. Yo ho, yo ho a pirates life for me."  
  
I closed my eyes to clear them of what I had seen; surely I must be imagining things. The cut at my shoulder burned as though it had been touched with a white-hot poker. The ringing returned, it was soft, but noticeable and it was growing steadily grew louder; I felt something slide past my skin soft as a wave upon the sands edge on a quiet day. Lightning crackled, thunder boomed and the ringing became near unbearable, but I could not raise my hands to my ears as I had raised them to shield my eyes, nothing it seemed would work. The waves, which had been warm and soft, became violent and scalding. It was as if I was being tossed around in a stormy pot of boiling water. My mouth opened in a noiseless scream, tears streaming from my upturned face at the pain that filled my body, then just as suddenly as it had come it vanished, leaving me weak, exhausted, and struggling just to breath.  
  
"Well now maties what have we here?" I heard a male voice say, I shivered at the uneducated sound of his accent; the voice was harsh and made me want to turn away from it. I could smell the stench of unwashed bodies and wrinkled my nose at the nastiness of it. My eyes slit open and I caught a glimpse of an ugly face with teeth that quite possibly must have never been brushed, before the darkness took me and I could see no more.  
  
S.O.'s  
  
A big thank you to Keza for editing this chapter!!! THANK YOU!!!  
  
ESP: Thank you. Yes it was the intro, sorry it took so long for me to post this, but life gets in the way of writing sometimes, no matter how hard we try to avoid it. Thank you again and I hope you liked it!  
  
Hotshot: Yes TTH for POTC, I've even done a tie in for it. It is very difficult to learn mannerisms of a time that you have not lived in. I know I struggle with it in the re-enactment group all the time. I'm glad you're hooked, I can only hope you stay that way!  
  
Aelan Turner: Well I continued, though it's been six months since my original post. Sorry it took so long, here's the latest though with more to follow hopefully soon.  
  
Chayter: I'm your kind of writer huh? Wow what a compliment thank you!  
  
Dreamer: Yea, you're back, you're back. I missed you so much sweetheart. Let me know when and we can certainly do some brainstorming together!!!! Wedding plans are....well interesting, we'll see what happens.  
  
SparkHiggins: It's supposed to remind you of TTH, it is after all about Briar's great granddaughter. I'm glad you like it.  
  
Jupiter's Light: I posted more as soon as I could hope you like it! 


	3. Pirates

WARNING: I edited my own work for once bare with me. I figure if I keep foisting it off on someone else I'll never learn so please let me know if anyone catches anything I've done wrong. Thanks.  
  
There was a white light when my mind slowly drifted into consciousness, perhaps I was dead came the first panicked thought. I must have fainted fallen in the water and drowned thanks to my petticoats and heavy skirts. Okay follow the white light, isn't that what you are supposed to do when you're dead? Unfortunately when I followed the light it only made my eyes flutter open. I lay there for a moment now fully understanding the feeling death warmed over and just stared at the wooden ceiling above me. My stomach threatened to riot at any moment and my head ached like I had forgotten to duck a quarterstaff attack. Something was tugging at my foggy mind something that said something wasn't quite right. At that moment though everything was so hazy I couldn't concentrate on any one thing.  
  
"Ya wakin up lass?" came the same harsh voice that had come to me just after I had seen the men in the fog. It made me wince as it had the last time. This time, however, it seemed even worse, it grated upon my very nerves and if it was possible made my head hurt even worse. My eyes watered in streams, but my mouth was unbelievably dry. I groaned and attempted to roll over only to find that I was still fully dressed in my costuming. My costuming was too constricting in my current state. In full health I often had problems getting back up when in costume. My arms felt heavy, so I just let them flop at my sides and continued to stare at the ceiling trying to get my bearings.  
  
"Where am I?" I managed to croak as I silently prayed the dizziness would leave and the floor would stop moving. My vision became clearer and I found I was indeed looking up at a wooden ceiling; as a matter of fact glancing down one wall I found it was all wood. Feeling the rolling beneath me I realized I must be on the water, my head was not spinning as much as I thought. Had I been kidnapped, is that what had happened on the dock. Perhaps the men I had seen had not been over the water as I had thought. Perhaps I had gotten turned around in the fog.  
  
"You're on board the Nautilus." The same voice came and I rolled my head toward it, confusion set in as I saw my arm lay only inches from a set of bars so grimy they looked black. My heart jumped into my throat and fought down my stomach as I flew up. It was one thing to think you had been kidnapped, it was another thing entirely to find out you had been kidnapped. However it was not a good idea to move that quickly as it caused my head to spin rapidly and I had to lean back down resting on my arm.  
  
"The Nautilus?" I queried one hand holding me up the other laying protectively over my rebellious stomach. Looking around me I found I was indeed on a boat but wasn't a 21st century boat; rather one I had only seen set up as museums or from the comfort of my living room. This didn't look like the museum sort as they had an air of antiquity about them. This one looked new, or at least newer, the wood beneath my hand was smooth, though not with years, rather with fresh sanding. The lantern hanging from a hook in the small alcove between my cell and the stairs held a candle, another lantern had been set into the wall just far enough from my captor to keep me from seeing him.  
  
Where was I? What had happened? When sudden inspiration hit me I immediately grasped at it. It after all was the only sane explanation and I laughed, this must be a of course a joke.  
  
"Oh right and I suppose Captain Nemo is on his way down." I said the laughter rich in my voice.  
  
" The only Captain here is Captain Malachi." Came the voice again, I strained my eyes against the shadows that were obscuring him from my view. The voice was serious, one hell of an actor, I thought as I glanced around to see if there were any video cameras.  
  
"Captian Malachi is it?" I continued my mind still telling me this had to be a joke as I glanced around me. Though for a joke it was incredibly elaborate, the two lanterns were the only lights in the room as far as I could see, which wasn't farther than what was in front of me. The smell of unwashed bodies and human waste did nothing to help with the state of my stomach. I tried to breathe through my mouth, but that did nothing to help. Both the lights seemed positioned so they were directly on me; it made me feel like a criminal that had been pulled in for questioning.  
  
"Aye." Came the short reply, I got the feeling that who ever sat beyond my cell was enjoying watching me I immensely and enjoying my discomfort just as much. I shifted nervously and managed to drag myself on all fours and slowly turn toward the grimy steel bars. The man that sat beyond the bars did not move, just watched me. Finally I placed one hand on the bars and pulled myself into a sitting position.  
  
"What am I doing here?" I asked fear clutching at my heart once again. My mind grasped at anything that made sense. It must be a dream, or perhaps my body was in a coma and I was caught within the depths of my own mind. Perhaps I had indeed been hurt on the docks, perhaps I had hit my head on a rock under the water when I had fell from the docks. Or perhaps I had just hit my head on the dock. Now I was stuck in this horrible nightmare, that was it a perfectly reasonable explanation.  
  
It was a far better explanation than the far-fetched idea of time travel that had dawned just before the much more plausible nightmare idea. After all I had been wearing Grandma Briar's necklace, as a matter of fact I had been wishing myself elsewhere. My panicked mind refused to look at that thought; it refused to believe in old legends. Sure Aunt Morai had spoon- fed me Grandma Brair's story, but that didn't mean I believed it. Hell I had even read the diary that Aunt Morai had had published. She knew no one would take the story seriously, still she hoped that maybe some one, some where would understand and take it for the warning it was meant to be. For the help it could be to someone in the same predicament. I thought it just another of Aunt Morai's eccentric, just one more thing I secretly rolled my eyes at, but loved her all the same for.  
  
It was at that moment the picture Grandpa Michael had painted of Grandma Briar's back flashed through my mind. A woman, still in her prime, painted in black and white with scars criss-crossing her back from the lash of a whip. My mind flew to the horror and reality that had been behind her story. The things that had happened that had never happened in stories. Things that Briar had refused to gloss over. My panic only grew and I tried to calm myself by assuring myself that such things were not possible, no I refused to believe it.  
  
"Waitin on the Captains pleasure." Came the reply tugging me from my unpleasant thoughts. " It'll be up to him if ya stay on board until he tires of ya, or if we sell ya in Tortuga."  
  
"That can't be." I whispered, how in the hell had I managed to get from England to Tortuga in the space of a day? The oddities were adding up now, more things than I could explain away, but it's funny how the mind when confronted with the impossible with still try and how you will let it. So my next question was of course to explain that away as well. " How long have I been here?"  
  
" Two days." The man told me, and I sagged back. There was no way in two days time I could go from England to Tortuga on this relic of a ship. " Ya sure do talk a lot."  
  
"How observant of you." I growled as my stomach took another leap and bile rose in my throat. I placed my head upon the grubby bars thankful for the coolness of them despite the stifling mugginess and nasty odors that filled the space I was in. I still refused to accept what was obviously right in front of me. Frustration always made me bad-tempered.  
  
"You mockin me?" he snapped standing, looking up feebly I saw he was quite possibly one of the tallest men I had ever seen. He stepped into the light, his black hair blending with the shadows, his black eyes cold and heartless, his skin weathered by sun and sea. His muscles rippled under his dingy gray shirt with its wide sleeves that showed many patches in it.  
  
"Perhaps." I responded unsure of what else to say the fear that was building in me making me babble. I knew that it was a mistake when I looked up into that face that wrinkled into fury and the heavy fist came flying at me. It connected in my middle and my stomach officially met my backbone. I lay unable to breathe, my lungs working frantically for some sort of sustenance. Anger filled me with white-hot rage so potent I shook with it.  
  
"Bastard." I gasped once air finally made it's way back into my lungs. Tears of pain filled my eyes as I lay panting for a moment then raised myself enough to lean my head as close to the bars as I could get before vomiting so that it sprayed all over the nasty man's shoes.  
  
"Bastard." I repeated as I wiped my hand across my mouth grimacing at the horrible taste in my mouth. It was a shock to be hit, even more of a shock to be hit and not know a good reason as to why. However, vomiting on the man's shoes was a worse idea than talking back to him. He jumped back, I hadn't thought his face could contort into more of a mask of fury, but I was wrong. His heavy paw fell heavily on my head and gripped the long mass of tangles before I could blink. There was a horrible pain in my scalp as he jerked me up, I clutched at the bars as he forced me to stand and kicked with all my might at his shins, which connected, but in his angry state did no good. I shrieked my anger not caring if the world heard me.  
  
"Let her go Culligan." I heard another voice say, this one was as smooth as the other's was rough, it's burr making it seem almost warm. My eyes fell on the man that stood just with in the lights, his coat a faded red, probably once a vivid scarlet, braided trim edged it. His shirt was a faded black as was the pants he wore that tucked into his black leather boots. The boots looked scuffed, but still in rather good repair. His hat was wide brimmed and the same shade as his jacket, large black plumes made their way jauntily over his shoulder. He was a rather handsome man in a roguish sort of way, his hair as black as Culligans waved from under his hat, his skin tanned from days in the sun, a carefully trimmed mustache adorned his face. A rather dashing scar graced his cheek running from the top of his cheekbone to the edge of his chin. My cheekbone connected painfully with the bars as I fell, no longer supported by my jailer. "A feisty one ya brought me."  
  
"Aye Captain." Culligan said in a surly voice as he stepped on my hand before stepping back. Making me once again cry in outrage and pain.  
  
" I said that was enough Culligan." The man growled now, he looked down at me his face looking friendly, but his eyes as soulless as his counterparts. "Don't be touchin the lady again."  
  
The side of my face throbbed, tears stood out in my eyes though I tried to fight them; he knelt down and gently touched my injured cheek. I held very still unsure of this man's intentions, knowing him for the Captain, I wasn't sure I wanted to anger him. I knew what his subordinate was capable of first hand, but I wasn't sure what lengths the Captain would go. While I was still having trouble grasping the meaning of it all I was in no hurry for more pain. My shoulder burned like fire and I knew that I must have pulled a few of the stitches in the fracas. I hoped it was only a few and that I hadn't ripped the whole thing wide open again.  
  
"A pretty one, for all the grime." He said thoughtfully his finger traveling down the side of my cheek to my neck. " Pretty enough to fetch a good price."  
  
"A good price?" I whispered my eyes meeting his and telling him without words what I thought of the finger that was now at my collarbone. I jerked back unable to hold still with the way his touch made my skin crawl. It was as if I was being touched by evil itself. It made me shiver in fear, but the anger that had been raised in me earlier stamped it down. Anger was so much easier to deal with than the fear, for fear was debilitating, anger empowered.  
  
"We sure ain't in the transport business missy." The captain replied smiling at me, a few of his teeth had been replaced by gold ones, others were just plain missing, others a disgusting yellow. I changed my thoughts on his appearance, he had been handsome until he opened his mouth." Slaves is what we're after."  
  
"But I'm not a slave." I told him defiantly. " I'm a citizen of the United States of America."  
  
"Aye, British then, from the colonies?" he asked me, and for a moment I hoped that he might free me. " That'll explain ya odd speech. Still we don't care where ya from missy, nor will the people who are lookin to buy. Though if ya wish ta try to change my mind, I'm thinking Culligan would be happy to help ya to my cabin."  
  
"What do you take me for?" I hissed back away from the bars in the disgust plain on my face and in my voice.  
  
"Well if ya ain't already a whore, lady," the Captain laughed. " You'll be one in a few days, there be madams that pay dearly for the likes of you.  
  
"I'd die first." I snapped my mind recoiling from his words and my fear beginning to almost choke me, my anger beginning to fail me in its onslaught. I stared at him and he grinned at me as if smelling my fear the way a dog does.  
  
"Beggars can't be choosers miss." He told me his voice still full of mirth. " Unless of course ya have any family we could ransom ya back to."  
  
Tears filled my eyes as I reality hit me, there was no family here, this was no dream, the coppery taste of blood in my mouth and the pain from both my stomach and face were testimony of that. I reached without conscious thought for the necklace I had worn around my neck, the necklace that had been my great-great-grandmothers. The necklace that had brought her trouble according to family history more trouble than she had ever imagined. My neck was bare, the chain gone, the stone gone, my only way home gone.  
  
"I thought so." He smiled at me as my attention left him. I began looking frantically around the cell for my necklace. My salvation was in that necklace. He turned to go, clapping Culligan on the back. " Nice work Culligan."  
  
"My necklace." I cried despair now joining my fear as the Captain faded from view. Culligan just smiled his teeth in far worse repair than his Captain's. Did these people know anything about hygiene? I knew the answer to that; I had after all studied very near this time period for the re- enactment group, still it was a shock to realize exactly how bad it was.  
  
"It's in good hands lady." Culligan assured me as he took it from his pocket and swung it in front of me, taunting me with it. " Trust me it'll fetch a good price in Tortuga."  
  
"Give it back." I hissed throwing myself against the bars. " Give it back or so help me God......"  
  
"What will ya do?" he laughed. "What can ya do? Ya can't do anything missy, there ain't anything ya can do. We could do what ever we wanted to ya, it's mighty fun with an unwilling lass. Still if ya want to trade for it."  
  
" You wouldn't actually give it to me." I said as I spat on the floor between us and looked at him with all the defiance I had. I pulled on all the defiance had frequently practiced with Dorian and all the other males in the group. The youngest and newest were always the worst to deal with, but I had always managed. This time it was shallow, for I knew even the most green in our group would have never intentionally caused me pain. These men were lawless brutes, barbarians with no thought, but to their own pleasure.  
  
" The Captain's right a feisty one to be sure. I think you'd be too tough to tame before we land in Tortuga." He grinned maliciously at me " We'll have ta sell this ya, ya lost your chance with the captain. Hopefully one of the houses can put ya in your place, or perhaps a private buyer. We'll see on our next trip how ya fair missy, and how high and might ya are then. I it will be a different story as ta how ya receive us."  
  
The glee that entered his tone at the idea of a private buyer told me that it was bound to be worst than one of the houses and I had no delusions as to what he meant by houses. I knew from halfhearted interest that Tortuga had been a pirate's city. It was paradise for those criminal misfits that roamed the seas, a Sodom and Gomorra of its time. Culligan smiled at me with the amused gleam in his eyes of one who will sit back and wait for a foe's comeuppance.  
  
I pulled myself back from the bars moving into a corner my arms on my knees my head leaning back against the wall, tears blinding me though I tried to blink them back. Culligan chuckled for a moment before turning and trudging up the stairs after his employer. I let them fall knowing that no one would be there to witness it.  
  
I was wrong, someone slight came trudging down the stairs a bucket in one hand and a mop in the other, I turned my head away from them no longer in control of my emotions, or the tears that fell freely. I was frightened, alone and helpless, not a combination I would wish on anyone. Not to mention I was going to have another two days to fight off advances from any other member of the crew that took such matters into their hands.  
  
Then of course was the foulness of my surroundings. The smells and groans of the other passengers that let me know I was not the only one that was going to be sold. It wasn't fair, Briar at least had some time to get her bearings before she had been attacked. She had some time to adjust and had found some happiness before she had to deal with scum such as this. I had a feeling that Ox had nothing on some of these pirates.  
  
"Here lady." A small voice said from the bars, it was undoubtedly from the slight figure I had glimpsed. There at the bars was a boy of about fourteen, his unruly blond hair falling about him in a tangle, his skin still retaining a little of the paleness of someone who is just learning the sea. In his hands were a bit of bread and a cup of something, I edged toward him assuming that he was of the same cut of his captain and the other crew members. After all we are judged by the company we keep.  
  
"I won't hurt ya I promise." He told me his voice sweet as his smile, his eyes big and brown. " Culligan shouldn't have hurt ya so, they can't hurt ya too much or ya ain't sellable. Then the Captain gets real mad."  
  
"And what do you care?" I asked as I reached the bars looking at the crust of stale bread worriedly. "How do I know you aren't going to poison me?"  
  
"If I could, I would." He told me seriously. " I doubt you'll survive a month in Tortuga, ya ain't the type. Ya ain't hard enough. It'd save ya the pain and agony."  
  
"So help me escape." I pleaded the sadness in his eyes telling me that perhaps I could manipulate this boy. Perhaps I could convince him to save me, he looked about the right age to have dreams of being a hero.  
  
"I can't, my father had to beg to get me a job as cabin boy and the Captain will kill me for sure if he knew." The boy replied fearfully, his eyes wide with fright and horror. I realized this of course was the real world. It was a far more brutal world underneath the veneer of civilization than the time I had come from. Women were looked upon in a far less flattering way than even in the time Briar had gone to. I signed and took the bread from him and the liquid that smelled strongly of alcohol. I surmised it must be rum. My body ached everywhere, but especially at my shoulder. Glancing at it in the light I saw that a dark stain was starting to spread across my shoulder. Despite all my wishing it had ripped open in the fight, the boy looked at it in fear.  
  
"Damn it." I cried tears building in my eyes again. I glanced down at my skirts, the once beautiful pale green now blackened with grim and dirt, the seam holding one side of the split overskirt to the waistband had been snagged. The cream colored underskirt was ripped and tattered the embroidery in the bodice starting to unravel. "Will you help me with something?"  
  
"Depends." He said warily, I eased myself around; my arm was becoming stiffer and stiffer. There was no way I was going to be able to unbutton the row of tiny buttons that held my bodice together. I knew I needed his help otherwise I would never get to the wound to dress it. I kept an eye on the stairs for if one of the other pirates came down while we did this there would be more to pay than I wanted to.  
  
"Unbutton my bodice." I told him, " I need help bandaging my shoulder, please help me."  
  
My eyes remained on the stairs, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment; it wasn't as if I had never had a man help me undress. Frequently I ran around in my bloomers and corset in front of them, but here it was different. The boy had looked at me as though, I had asked him to look at me naked. Still there was no help for it, no one else to help me. Certainly no woman to help anyway and I was not going to ask any of the other men. There was a slight pause before I felt his deft fingers working their way down the buttons.  
  
"Done." He said as he flicked the last button free. I opened my eyes and attempted to shrug out of the bodice, as the boy tried to look everywhere, but at my chemise and corset.  
  
" I need help." I cried trying to keep the edge out of my voice, with hesitation he pulled the bodice from my shoulders. " Do you have a knife?"  
  
Again he looked at me warily and I growled under my breath in impatience. I didn't have time for this. I needed to bandage my shoulder quickly.  
  
"You use it, I need you to cut the sleeves off this chemise, the cloth is still relatively clean, I can use it for bandages." I said after taking a deep breath. Understanding dawned in his eyes and he swiftly cut at the sleeves with a dagger he had in his boot. With some cursing we both managed to cut the fabric into strips and make a makeshift bandage. With more cursing we managed to get my bodice back on and buttoned. It was my good fortune that no one came down the stairs.  
  
"Thank you." I whispered tiredly, the fact I hadn't eaten in a few days and I had lost some blood, was taking it's toll. Through the bars he handed me the bread again and pushed the mug at me.  
  
" Eat, you'll need your strength." He told me as he stood and took up his mop. I watched him as he mopped up my earlier mess. " And the rum will dull the pain. Nasty gash that one. How'd ya get it?"  
  
"Sword." I replied. "What's the point of eating? It would probably be preferable that I die here rather than in Tortuga."  
  
"If ya look nice enough perhaps one of the inn keepers or pub owners will buy ya for a wife." He said without comment to my answer to his question. I was sure he assumed I had gotten in the way of Culligan's sword. After all few women knew how to use one, I certainly didn't look like the type of woman that would know. For now it seemed better not to alert anyone that I knew which end of the sword went where." They ain't as bad as the madams or the private buyers."  
  
"Great." I sighed chuckling under my breath. " Just what I need a husband, I never would have imagined myself a mail order bride."  
  
"A what?" he asked looking incredibly confused.  
  
"Nothing." I told him closing my eyes, I had two days wait, hopefully by then I would find a way to keep from being sold to any of the people previously mentioned and get my necklace back. There was no way I would sleep, so instead I stared into space trying to find a way out of this mess.  
  
Wow, one lonely review for this chapter. I'm losing my touch. THANK YOU SUGAR!!!!! (Does only reviewer dance).  
  
Glimmer: Thanks for the review of the first chapter; I hope you are enjoying this as much as TTH. Love you and Skittles!!!! 


	4. Escape Attempts

The next two days were hell. The weather warmed to a surprising degree and there was little wind on the water making the ship drift along slower than normal. The pirates had all been hoping we'd reach port early so they could enjoy the pleasures that Tortuga had to offer, but it was not to be. This, of course, made the pirates irritable and short-tempered, leaving them snapping at each other like a starving pack of dogs over a choice morsel. Still they would much rather take it out on the poor slaves that could not fend for themselves rather than each other. It became quite the sport for them.  
  
The morning after I had awoken Culligan noticed the blood that stiffened the fabric of my bodice, I ignored his questions, but he knew that I had heard him. My petty rebellion hadn't been the best of ideas, especially since that afternoon he snuck up on me as I leaned against the bars and poured a bucket of salt water over me. As it ran into the injury it burned like fire and I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming. Though I have to admit the man may have just saved my life, for while the salt stung it also cleansed. It may not have been as good as modern day antiseptics, but I believe it may have just been one of the reasons I survived.  
  
Dim day was only relieved by dimmer night, and I refused to sleep for fear of what might happen. I also refused to eat for what the impish demons that masqueraded as pirates, might have done to the hard bread and dirty water they called rations. The only person on board I could remotely trust had disappeared, so I had to hope the bandage that was peaking through my now ripped bodice would hold.  
  
It was my greater misfortune that all of these conditions combined to make my wound worse. By the time we docked in Tortuga the fever was just beginning. I spent my time shivering in my dank cell waiting fearfully for the time to come when they would lead us off. I lay limply and weakly, as my prison seemed to close in on me in my anxious state. Through the night I worried, and from the murmurs of the person beside me I knew that I was not alone in my fear. Everyone was restless, I could hear a man down the way from me pacing heavily and an odd mixture of languages assaulted me. While I could not understand what was said the tone of a prayer is universal.  
  
The next morning dawned and I could see it from where I sat. My eyes were not accustomed to the light that fell through the open hatch. A soft clean breeze drifted down to me smelling of the sea. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, wishing as I did that today would not be the nightmare I envisioned. My mind was clear, for the fever had started low, and had't yet risen to dangerous heights. I knew that if I did not find some place more sanitary I would likely die. For that matter I tried not to think about the fact it was quite possible I would die anyway. A minor cut that became inflamed often took people's limbs, if not life, in this time.  
  
"Lady, are you awake?" I heard the soft voice whisper to me breaking me from my frightened musing and dazed state.  
  
"Do you think I could sleep on my last morning of freedom?" I asked wryly, as I turned my head knowing who had spoken before I focused on the slim figure that crouched by the bars.  
  
"I suppose not." He replied with a reflective tone to his voice " I haven't been able to get away, though I tried, they've been watchin' me like a hawk. With all that's goin' on today, they're too busy. Do you need help with your wound?"  
  
I closed my eyes knowing that whatever we did now would have a fifty-fifty chance of working. Still it was better odds than my chances otherwise. I nodded silently and made my way painfully to him. The pain had increased in the wound, a feeling that came from deep within it. It was a sure sign if I needed one that it was inflamed. Carefully balanced on his lap, I saw bandages that were not clean, but by far better than what I had currently covering the injury. Deftly he unbuttoned the front of my dress, attempting to be professional about it; however, I could see the reddening of his ears and cheeks. I lowered my head to hide the smile that was forming. It was so unexpected to find such innocence and sense of propriety among souls that were so obviously black. I helped him ease the shoulder of my dress down as best I could, which quite frankly wasn't very much help at all. I've always been a baby when it comes to pain.  
  
"I'm sorry." He whispered flashing a quick look to my face at my whimper of pain. I waved his worry away with a flick of my hand. Telling him, as I did not trust myself to speak, that I was fine. My heart sank as he unwound the bandage and my skin was visible. It was one thing to suspect the wound was infected; it was another entirely to find it a fact, and here I was stuck in this Godforsaken time, with no antibiotics to fix it. The cut was a painfully, vividly, red, gently I probed it and found it hot to the touch. It seeped a little pus, that thankfully had a yellow tinge, but hadn't turned green. Green pus meant the onset of gangrene, and I certainly didn't have the resources to combat that.  
  
I knew the different fazes of infection well, some through actual experience, and some through doctor's warnings. My cousin had gotten a nasty cut that refused to heal; eventually the infection had spread into her bones. It had taken surgery and many different combinations of remedies before it had finally closed. So far there was no streaking from the wound, which was a good sign. However, I worried, since the infection could easily spread to the organs that were so close. All I could do at this point was pray. Pray that I would find some place that would be sympathetic and help me heal. Pray that I didn't loose my arm or my life.  
  
Dehydration was making my head ache, something that the heat only made worse. I had grown accustomed to the perpetually dry mouth and lips. The fever that had begun, had only sapped what little moisture I had left. Both the thirst and the gnawing hunger were making me rethink the stale bread and cup of water that still lay outside my cell.  
  
"It doesn't look good." My eyes slid to his as he nodded toward the gash. " It's makin you sick."  
  
"That's right Sherlock." I grumbled not wanting his opinion on how bad it was my own opinion was bad enough. " Give him a cookie."  
  
He just looked at me with wide eyes as though my cheese had just slid off my cracker.  
  
"I'm not crazy." I said defensively. " I just don't feel good."  
  
The last was said in a whining voice, that I despised even as it came out of my mouth, but I had never been a very good patient. He just nodded his head as though afraid to disagree with me. I just grumbled, but I had to give it to him, he waited patiently as I shifted away from him. He started to protest as I turned my back to him, but I ignored him and leaned against the bars. I shifted my shoulder up and settled myself into a position that allowed him access to the now terrifically nasty looking cut. He nodded in understanding, his eyes flashing to the stairs as we heard steps stomping above our heads. When no one came down the stairs he turned his attention back to the problem at hand. I expected him to just wrap the wad of fabric around the wound as we had before, but instead he dabbed at it with something that burned. It brought tears to my eyes, and a whimper of pain to my throat, neither, of which I was too keen on feeling.  
  
"What in the hell is that?" I cried causing him to spill some the contents of the bottle he held onto my skirt. The smell of alcohol filled the small room and I realized he had been cleaning it with the only antiseptic available to him, straight rum. It was the harshest most unrefined of its type. The scent of it made my eyes water, spilling the tears of pain in their wake.  
  
"I'm sorry lady." He protested waiving his hands in front of him in an effort to quiet me. "They'll hear you, he'll whip me if he finds me givin rum to a slave."  
  
"I'm not a slave yet." I growled. " They haven't sold me, and until that moment I'm my own woman."  
  
" Well be a smart woman and let me finish before someone comes down." He snapped his chocolate colored eyes flaring for the first time. I stared in shock for a moment at the sweet young man who had transformed into a paragon of fury and back in a matter of minutes. Unable to do much more I nodded my assent and moved back into my previous position. My arm hurt like the blazes as he continued cleansing and bandaging my wound and I had to struggle to remain silent. I closed my eyes willing myself anywhere else, in an attempt to block out the pain. While my mind was lost in concentration, the cabin boy became so intent on what he was doing, neither of us heard nor saw Culligan until it was too late.  
  
"So ya ain't willin to give yourself to the Captain, but ya willin with the Cabin boy eh?" I heard him say in a voice that bothered me more than the squealing of a semi's brakes. I shivered, suddenly very afraid to find myself in nothing other than my corset, chemise, and skirts. My sleeves were no longer there to offer me a bit of modesty. My shoulders were bare for his perusal, which in my time meant nothing, but in this time was quite scandalous. " I always said ya were too handsome for your own good Turner."  
  
"It wasn't his fault." I cried, backing away from the bars as I snatched up my bodice. I fumbled with it, but my shoulder screamed in pain as I tried to raise my arm.  
  
Surprisingly the cabin boy did not look away from the challenging look in Culligan's eyes. Turner as I had suddenly found my benefactor's name, just stared back at him with a look of incredible distaste on his face.  
  
"Is that so?" Culligan asked his eyes still fastened on Turner's. " Ya wanted to be a pirate boy so be one. Take what the lass is so willin to offer, and if she ain't take it anyway. Make your father proud, be a man."  
  
"My father would never have encouraged me to hurt an innocent woman." Young Turner hissed slowly rising to his feet, his eyes riveted on his adversaries every move. A detached part of myself watched him with admiration. He stood lightly ready to move swiftly and gracefully at the slightest provocation. I had seen that type of stance before in Dorian, it was the stance of a born fighter. For the first time I looked at him, really looked at him. He had the tall lanky look of a colt that is common in most young teenage boys. It was a look that spoke of more breadth and height to come. His hair was a rich golden brown and his skin was a much lighter color of the same hue. The sunlight fell across him from the stairs and deck above gilding him in it's golden light. His face was set in a look of protective fierceness that gave him the strong angelic beauty. I had once seen that look on a statue of the archangel Michael. The boy was going to be one hell of a good-looking man, when he grew into himself. That is if he survived to manhood with this lot.  
  
"What's goin on?" An entirely new voice asked as a pair of legs appeared on the stairs. The waist and torso of another pirate followed them. Not far behind him was yet another of the bastards, both grinning at the prospect of a little bloodshed. One was thin the other bulky, both had eyes that were hollow and devoid of any emotion other than greed and lust. Lust especially, whether it be lust of women, riches, or death.  
  
"I was just about ta teach Tuner here how a real pirate acts." Culligan said a smile I did not like at all sliding across his face with a black oiliness that made me shiver. "What do ya say boys?"  
  
"We're always ready to help a young lad learn what piracy is all about." The thiner one said smiling just as cruelly. They moved too quickly for Turner to do much more than try to keep them all out of range. The thin one taunted him distracting him as the larger one moved behind him. I rose with surprising agility and swiftness, my head swam and I grasped the bars of my cell to steady myself, as I cried out in warning. The larger man took hold of Turner, while the smaller one raised a fist to punch him.  
  
"He was helping me dress the wound on my shoulder. I swear please. Please I swear it was nothing more than that." I protested as ideas flew through my brain and finally one caught. It was a thought that seemed like a stroke of genius and might save both of our hides, that is if they had bought. " He was saving the money that you would have thrown away if I died. He didn't want to help me really he didn't."  
  
"Saving our money hmmmm?" Culligan questioned as though testing out the validity of my words. " Nah, ain't noble enough for young Turner, he ain't been molded yet into the man we'll make him yet. More like he just couldn't stand to see a woman hurt. Yes, that'd be more like it. Hold him tight Tiny, I think somthin other than a beatin would be better. Yes it would indeed, and far more entertaining."  
  
All eyes turned to me and I felt the breath catch in my throat, choking me on the fear that rushed through my veins. I looked about as Culligan pulled the keys from his belt and unlocked the door. There was nothing in the filthy straw, nothing I could use as a weapon, and I nearly panicked before one spark of hope filled me.  
  
A voice whispered in my ear, a lesson from an earlier ancestor. 'A woman's greatest weapon is her body; use it for all it's worth'. I took a deep breath to both steady myself, and prepare myself against the revulsion that filled me as Culligan drew near.  
  
"Come now boys it doesn't have to be like that." I said hoping my voice sounded inviting rather than telling them I was ready to vomit in both fear and disgust. Culligan's mouth turned up in a grin telling me my acting was good enough. My eyes lingered on the bottle of rum where it lay over turned, from Turner's haste to stand. If I could just position myself right, I might just find myself a weapon.  
  
"Now that'd be more like it." He said his smile wide and I had to fight not to gag. Instead I smiled as I leaned down attempting to look while I took the bottle in my hand. Seeing that they thought no thing was amiss, I took a swig of the rum, grimacing at the taste. A hoarse cough escaped my lips much to the amusement of the men around me. I dared not look at Turner, I could only hope he would play along.  
  
"We could have a nice little party down here." I continued holding the bottle as if to offer it to him. I backed toward the door, letting what was left of my chemise fall from my shoulder baring my shoulder and far more of my chest than I wanted. Inwardly I cringed, but I had no choice. Their eyes were glued to the flesh that was bared, and luck was with me as the months at sea seemed to have addled their brains. All it took was a little show of flesh and their eyes had glazed over.  
  
I leaned against the bars taking another drink as Culligan got within reaching distance. Swiftly, I threw the amber liquid into his eyes and brought the bottle around to smack him soundly in the head as hard as I could. Turner took the opportunity to stomp on Tiny's toe and punch him squarely in the gut. The smaller man rushed at me, but somehow I found the strength to fly out the open door and pull it shut. He growled at me as he reached through the bars for me, causing me to back away until I hit the wall. That left Tiny and Turner who fought to my left. Looking to my right I saw, just under the stairs some small casks, I assumed it was the crew's stash of rum.  
  
"Turner." I cried as I leaned down and picked it up. My arms shook with the effort, but somehow I managed to throw it to him, just in time for him to smash it over Tiny's not so tiny head. As the man fell with the grace of a hippo, Turner grabbed my arm and hauled me up the stairs.  
  
"I thought you were afraid of death." I said softly as he dragged me out onto the sunlit deck. My luck held as the deck was near empty, it was still early, and those that had been released for their first night in Tortuga had yet to awaken from their alcohol-induced stupor. As for those that were left, well, I guess it's not everyday the cabin boy runs across the deck dragging a woman in her undergarments. Turner helped me to the gangplank that led to the wharf, his face red with the excursion of supporting me.  
  
"Culligan would have killed me one day soon." Turner said breathlessly as he stopped at the top of the gangplank to survey just how many men loitered or unloaded on the dock below.  
  
"Get them!" A voice cried, both of us looked back to see a man running across the deck after us. " They got Culligan, Maretti, and Tiny."  
  
"So much for luck." I mumbled as the deck suddenly came alive the men broken from their shock. It was at that moment I managed to trip over my own two feet and fall head over feet down the plank. There was little Turner could do other than follow me and hope in the confusion he could get me back to my feet.  
  
The tumble was painful, I managed to skin my already bruised cheek and reopen the gash in my shoulder. I cried out as I went each full turn adding another bruise, or, a painfully thumping to a previous wound. It all came to a stop as I rolled into a man taking his legs right out from under him. I lay there for a moment unable to do more than let out a groan of pain and flop onto my back.  
  
"Get up, get up, damn you." Turner cried as he tried to haul me to my feet. It seemed our luck had run out. It was the injured arm he had grabbed and it only sent me to my knees in pain.  
  
"Sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." I shrieked furious with the tears that streaked down my face. I hated crying in front of anyone, but it hurt so badly, all I wanted to do was curl into a little ball and cry. Somewhere in the pain I remembered it was my livelihood on the line and I struggled to my feet somehow. We both turned opposite directions looking for an opening in the pirates that were surrounding us now. Cutlasses were drawn, adrenalin was rushing, and fierce expressions surrounded us.  
  
"Damn," Turner hissed, a look of defeat coming into his face. That look made my heart sink, I knew then there was no hope.  
  
"Ya might as well give it up lad." One of the pirates spoke up; I glanced at him in irritation, only to have him give me a smirk and a wink that irritated me more.  
  
"I see you're handling your ship just as well as always." The pirate said to Malachi who was just managing to push the frightened subordinate off of him and stand. His black hair was pulled way from his brow with a bright red bandanna, a scuffed leather tri corner hat sat upon his head. His coat was of the same brown leather of his hat and his shirt was a much cleaner white than I had yet to see. "Now if I were to delve into the heinous trade of slavery, I'd keep a better eye on me slaves."  
  
I fell to my knees my eyes on the dock and I knew I had lost my one chance at freedom. I had blown it by tripping over my own feet. My shoulder now bled freely and I watched in fascination, as it died the fresh bandaging a brilliant scarlet. Well, on the plus side I might bleed to death before being sold.  
  
"What have we here?" I groaned already irritated with the pirate that seemed to take the silence as an invitation to babble. What the hell did he think he had here? It wasn't as if there was a whole lot left to the imagination. "Not only are you a slave trader, but a poor one at that. Ya ain't never gonna sell her like that."  
  
"With all the trouble she's given me, she'd be better off at the end of a cannon ball dropping into the sea." Malachi growled pushing away the man who was frantically brushing off his coat.  
  
"It would be preferable to being sold like a side of beef." I said unable to help myself. It was not uncommon for my mouth to run away with me when I was angry. I felt Turner put his hand on my good shoulder and squeeze softly in warning.  
  
"It'd be best to not tempt him lass, savvy?" the pirate told me quietly, giving me a brief grin, gold glinting from his teeth. As I looked into his kohl rimmed eyes, and for moment I thought I saw a twinkle of kindness. "Don't do anything stupid."  
  
" Why?" I asked my voice quiet, but savage. " The better option would be to keep my mouth shut and be sold to a whorehouse where I can spend night after night still a prisoner to filthy bastards like the ones that stand around me?"  
  
" Like that." He said looking skyward as if praying for patience, but he still turned to Malachi. "Well it don't look as if she's any good for selling what do ya say I take her off your hands."  
  
"I thought ya didn't hold to slavery Sparrow." Malachi replied as he looked at Sparrow with interest gleaming in his eye, but his face remained emotionless. Turner squeezed my shoulder harder, causing me to glance back at him in warning. If he kept it up I wouldn't have a good shoulder left. As my gaze turned back to Sparrow and Malachi I noticed another man standing on the fringes looking more wealthy and prosperous than any of the other men. In curiosity I looked at him studying his face, causing him to look at me as he felt my gaze. His eyes met mine and he smiled, making me shiver. I knew at first glance he was not a man I wanted for a friend let alone an enemy. Trying to hide from that look I turned to the heated bartering that was going back and forth between Sparrow and Malachi. It was then that it hit me, looking him over I realized that the description of him at Executioner's Dock had been quite accurate.  
  
"Jack Sparrow?" I found myself asking though it had no part in what was being said around me.  
  
"Captain Jack Sparrow." The pirate replied in the tone of one who had had to make the correction one to many times. "You've heard of me love?"  
  
"In a manner of speaking." I returned not willing to stroke this man's already too obvious ego. I shifted rolled my good shoulder attempting to break free of the hand that was pressing harder and harder into my flesh to get me to quiet. It wasn't as if I needed any more bruises.  
  
"What is this?" The wealthy looking man stood with his hands behind his back as he looked behind me. I looked over my shoulder wondering what in the hell he saw only to have him push my bad shoulder down so he could examine something better. I screamed in pain tears filling my eyes at the pain. The tears fell, though I attempted to blink them back and I wondered what he had seen. " I'll give you ten gold pieces for her."  
  
My flesh cringed from his touch, the evil about the man filled me with fear and I looked pleadingly at Sparrow, who only raised his hands in denial.  
  
"Sorry love," He said giving me that smirk again, but as I looked I found the smile didn't quite reach his eyes." Can't top Ripley's price."  
  
With that my fate was sealed, there was no escape for me now. Ripley counted out his money and Malachi's smiled at the wealth he had received. Once the money was safely in his coat pocket he gestured to two burly pirates to take me. Turner stepped in front of me his face set in a look that told anyone he wouldn't let them take me without a fight.  
  
"Let it go Turner." I said, my voice soft with defeat. " You can't save me."  
  
"You'd best be looking to save yourself boy." Malachi said with a broad grin. "Insubordination, don't sit to well. Chain him up boys, we've managed to acquire ourselves a new slave."  
  
I protested, but it was to no avail. I was held by two behemoths and my hands were, well, tied. My eyes caught Sparrows and I gave him a pleading look, if nothing else I didn't want Turner hurt. He looked speculatively at the boy. "Turner did you say his name was?" Sparrow's voice floated to me as the crowd swallowed me up and I prayed that he could saver Turner. He sure as hell hadn't been effective at saving me he hadn't been able to save me.  
  
Dreamer: ( You'll always be just Dreamer to me!) You know you can be in it, I've never turned down a character from you yet. Not going to either. I have an idea, a half formed one idea, she'll appear in all her glory soon though I promise! I always love to have you beta, please don't throw anything at me for the rewrite. Dan and I put our heads together and he re- read about half of it so I hope it's okay. I was really hoping to see a new chapter from you go up, but I understand all the pressures around you. Hope to talk to you soon!  
  
Mayo: I could have sworn I saw a review from TTH just after I had finished it, but I went back and check and couldn't find one. Anyway, I am very glad you enjoyed TTH and are enjoying this story now. I'm sorry for the typo's I had an awesome beta, - I miss you Kathrine Mason Sikes-, but school took her away. I also had my friend Rachel who helped with this chapter, but school and other personal priorities have made her time scarce as well. At the beginning of TTH quite frankly I didn't have anyone to do it and I often over look my own mistakes. Still I'm very glad you stuck with it. I have my fiancé taking some interest now and he's a nazi, so hopefully I'll get better as time progresses. Thank you for the compliments they mean a lot! I hope you enjoy my stories more.  
  
Misery loves company: Hello! Yes, I'm still working on this though I've thought about letting it go. I write for my own enjoyment, but I post for the enjoyment of others and until this chapter I wasn't sure anyone really liked it. The past couple of reviews really boosted me up and made me grit my teeth and keep on going. I hope you enjoy this! Thank you for your support. 


	5. Freedom

I would now like to dedicate this story to Evanescing Dreamer. Thank you for your support honey, if nobody else likes it I will continue to write it because you liked it and supported me. Thank you!  
  
My shoulder was on fire as I was dragged through the streets of Tortuga. The jerking of the two men that followed behind Ripley was not helping matters. I could almost feel my flesh ripping further. Tears flowed down my cheeks in rivers, but I no longer cared. I had been sold into slavery, though luckily for me I would probably die from the inflammation in my shoulder.  
  
There were few inhabitants about that watched with mild curiosity, as I was pulled past. I gathered that it was not an uncommon occurrence for someone to be dragged weeping through the streets. Most of the people in the streets this time of day were passed out cold, littered among the refuse of the night before. The streets were narrow and in the daylight everything looked shabby and well used. Glancing at a woman that passed by me with a pitying look on her face. I realized that even the people were shabby and well used. Though in the light of candles and moonlight it wouldn't show. Tortuga was a land of night where the roughness and ill use were hidden by the shadows, to create a paradise by night for the rouges of the world.  
  
As we passed by yet another set of drunks sleeping peacefully away the effects of their excess the night before, an idea alighted upon me. There could only be one type of person that would be in a fouler mood than myself, and that would be a drunkard that had been awakened this early in the morning. I went limp with a whimper as we passed yet another set of people. Two men lay across from each other in the grimy street, one with a scantily clad woman under his arm. With all the strength I could muster as they loosened their hold on my arms for a better grip, I jumped swinging my leg up and kicking as hard as I could manage into the side of one of the sleeping men. He came up with a start, the woman at his side blinking groggily for a moment before the wretch attacked one of the men holding me with a furious growl. The woman uttered a momentary shriek as she scrambled out of the way.  
  
I bit back a smile as his friend came awake at his friend's battle cry and rolled to his feet with a swiftness I didn't think possible of the hung over. Both had blood shot eyes and enraged expressions. There was little warning as the two launched themselves at the two men holding me causing us all to go down in a tangle of limbs. My arms were thoroughly wrenched as I tried to fling myself out of the fray. The woman only watched for a moment before groggily standing and turning to walk the other way. She never looked back to see what was going to become of her companion from the night before. I figured that this was not an uncommon occurrence either.  
  
My tears were forgotten in the desperate bid for survival, an elbow to the ribs sent me coughing and sputtering, back to the ground, but eventually I crawled out. It must have been mere minutes since the beginning of the fight, and Ripley stood at the edge of it looking disgusted and irritated. I could hear his words of rage, but his mind was not on me, but rather on his subordinates that were not listening. I lay a few feet away for a few moments panting as I gathered up the last of my strength, seeing Ripley starting towards me and pushed myself to my feet. My eyes met his and for a moment we both froze, his warm amber eyes as cold as a leopard's, and nearly the same color. I was the prey caught in the glare of sight and I hesitated for only a moment before I turn and ran the opposite direction. I could hear his feet pounding a tattoo behind me and I dodged around the refuse that lined the streets with an agility I hadn't known I possessed. Finally just as I could practically feel his breath breathing down my neck, I squeezed between two food vendors of the small market place that I had managed to find myself in. I heard cursing and the thumping sounds of produce hitting the ground, but I didn't turn back to look. Circling around I hid in a quiet alleyway, my heart thumping in my chest and my breathing ragged. I struggled to control my gasps for air, knowing it would give me away. I could no longer hear the curses and frustrated cries of the man that had followed me, but I knew that he would be after me soon.  
  
Tears of frustration blurred my eyes as my head spun, I couldn't let myself fall down here, not where he would find me. Not to mention I was in a port town that was filled with pirates. Now port towns have never had a good reputation; even as far back as biblical times they have had a certain stain upon them, so I doubted passing out here in the street was going to be good for my health, if he didn't find me. Glancing up I saw a staircase to my left leading up to a small balcony and a set of doors. My heart started pounding as I saw the knob turning and I glanced about me for anywhere to hide.  
  
While the ground was littered with bits of paper, there were no discernable hiding spots, and I looked back up at the door to find it had already opened. So much for my swiftness, it seemed to have deserted me when I had stopped running. A girl stood at the top of the steps watching me. I could not see her eye color from this distance, though her newly washed chocolate colored waves fell past her hips. She looked startled to see me standing there, as though she hadn't expected to see anyone about. Which at this hour I could see why that would be her assumption. Her surprise lasted only a moment before her face took on a hint of pity and she started down the steps toward me. I struggled with my pride, I did not want her pity, but at the same time I needed it. If she pitied me she might help me.  
  
"Are you alright?" She asked, her voice surprisingly husky, but calming. She moved slowly as though I were an animal that might run or attack in my state of panic. I stood stalk still and waited for her to reach me. "No, of course you are not alright, look at you. What have they done to you?"  
  
I said nothing, still rather in a state of shock over the whole happenings of the last few days. Add to it the fact I had been slowly bleeding through a wound that was getting bigger and bigger by the day, as well as infected, and it was surprising I was coherent. Sounds of pursuit reached our ears, and her eyes widened as she looked past me for a moment.  
  
"Are they chasing you?" she questioned her hand reaching out for my arm and starting to urge me to the stairs.  
  
"Yes," I croaked as she pulled in earnest.  
  
"Well, don't just stand there you silly girl, come with me. Come on then, I'll hide you until they pass." She said urgently, I allowed her to pull me up the stairs, stumbling as my feet tried to give way. Finally I collapsed on the floor just on the other side of the door at the top of the stairs as the men's voices rang off the small alley and the door shut softly.  
  
The sounds passed by and I heaved a sigh of relief and felt the tears of thanksgiving fill my eyes. I blinked them back thinking as I did that I had certainly cried an awful lot in the past few days, but my exhausted mind was not able to keep this train of thought for very long. My rescuer bustled about the room putting something together, but I was too tired to really comprehend what she was doing. I leaned back against the door and stared at the window across from me. The walls were freshly white washed and glowed in the morning sun that filled the room. Her bed was neatly made and a dresser stood where she was pulling bits of things from it.  
  
"I'll be back in just a moment." She told me before opening a door that lead to a hallway. She shut the door behind her and I could hear her retreating footsteps. After a few moments I heard thumping and the door opened again. Another woman entered with her, both carrying a metal tub. It was the rough size and shape of a modern day horse trough, without the lightness of aluminum. They set it on the floor with a thump and the other woman who stared dreamily off into space wondered out of the room with a gentle push from my rescuer.  
  
"Mae is a sweet girl to be sure, but she isn't very bright." My rescuer said as she dragged a short stool next to the tub and then turned to her dresser where she placed a folded bit of fabric and a ball of something I couldn't recognize from where I was "She'll be bringing up the water for a bath, you look as though you could use one."  
  
I itched my neck and surveyed myself in a half daze, my skin was liberally streaked with grime, my dress now a dark olive or black in some parts, my hair was so matted and dirty I didn't think it would ever be clean again. I was so used to my own smell that I no longer was conscious of the reek, however, the girl before me wrinkled her nose as she stepped nearer.  
  
"Yes, please." I said softly looking forlornly down at myself. Briskly she knelt down and began unbuttoning my bodice, and gasped as the wound at my shoulder was revealed. Her surprise was momentary and she quickly untied the bandages to assess the damage.  
  
"And how did you come by this?" she asked her voice calming as the door opened and Mae entered with a bucket of steaming water in her hands. She dumped the water into the tub and disappeared again. A little while later she reentered with another bucket full and dumped it into the tub.  
  
"If that's how you have to get hot water no wonder so many people don't bathe." I muttered as I watched her leave only to return again.  
  
"What was that?" my rescuer asked as she released the clasp that held my skirt. It sagged loose around my legs, which were sprawled in front of me.  
  
"Nothing." I replied trying to reach for the strings of my corset groaning as I moved my shoulder. She batted my hands away impatiently and pulled the bow that held my corset tight. Gently as she could she unlaced my bodice and helped me stand. By now Mae had started to bring in buckets of cold water to counteract the three quarters of hot water. Pulling Mae away from that task the other girl had her help move a dressing screen in front of the tub. Once that was done she shooed Mae out and turned to me. She helped me stand and steadied me as I wavered shakily, then helped me around the screen to the tub. The water steamed invitingly and as I stepped into it gave a sigh of contentment.  
  
"Just throw that chemise on the floor, we'll find something else for you to wear." She called as she disappeared around the screen. I grunted my agreement and slipped further into the water, groaning as hot water rushed to cover my wound. I gritted my teeth and clenched my eyes shut before fully immersing it. Unable to help myself I let loose a string of curses that would have made any pirate proud. Luckily for me I was alone in the room, my rescuer had stepped out in search of clothing I hoped. I eventually became accustomed to the water in the cut and popped my legs over the side to push my head under the water.  
  
Glancing up through the water it had a grayish cast to it that was quickly becoming darker as the grime that was in my hair was released into the water. I pushed myself back up, figuring the water originally would be of help, but now the water was becoming dirty. On the stool I found the small ball was actually soap. Lifting it to my nose I found it had a pleasant lavender scent to it and I quickly lathered myself with it. A pitcher of water had been left on the stool as well and glancing down I found another at the stools base.  
  
I sighed as I looked at the clear water in the simple white pitchers. I would have enjoyed basking in the tub for the first time in days, but I was appalled at the filth and chose instead to stand and rinse with the soap from my body with the pitchers of water. Both were heavy and it took a little maneuvering to pour over me, but eventually I was clean. Even my hair had a lingering scent of lavender in it. The fabric I found was a rough bit of cloth that must serve as a towel. I was too exhausted to stand for very long, but I could sit on the stool and towel myself off. I had just finished when the door opened again and the girl entered again.  
  
"So you're Ripley's new purchase." The girl said as she glanced behind the screen. "Fate picked the wrong man for you to get on the bad side of. I can't hide you here for long, but I will hide you until nightfall, from there, I'll help you get to the docks, and I'll even spare you a little money for passage to another island. I suggest you go to Port Royal; it's more civilized than most other cities."  
  
She moved around screen as she spoke, clean bandages lay on the top of a pile of clothing in her arms. Taking a bottle she poured it onto one of the cloths and placed it over my shoulder. I muffled a small shriek of pain as the stinging antiseptic of alcohol once again filled my wound. As softly as she could she gently cleansed the wound, chattering away as she did. Tuning into it I found it was nothing of particular importance, just random thoughts, but I knew it was purely for the purpose of distracting me. She pressed on the wound making it drain; until blood mingled with the puss and eventually it was mostly blood. The fiery pain nearly made me faint, but she held me upright as she poured more of the alcohol into it. I smelled the piney scent of gin, and smiled to myself, what an odd martini I made. Finally she picked up a small stoneware pot and lifted the lid. With a small wooden spoon she scooped the sticky golden liquid onto a fresh bandage and applied it to my wound. I could smell the sweet scent of honey and recoiled in surprise.  
  
"It will help it heal." She said her eyes flicking to me I was surprised to see they were a vivid hazel, a rich golden brown swirled with a light green. "My mother used to be the midwife here in Tortuga before she died. She taught me a bit about herbs. I would stitch it, but with the sickness, it would only seal in what must be cleansed out. I brought some food, just some bread and milk; you shouldn't eat more than that. If you haven't eaten in a few days your stomach will not be able to handle more than that."  
  
"Thank you." I said as she tied off the bandage and reached for a cream colored material, that looked well worn and soft. Shaking it out I found it was a shirt, a man's shirt.  
  
"They're looking for a girl, we can't have you wondering the streets as a woman now can we. We'll wait until just past dark when the pirates come out for their nightly excursions and sneak you down to the docks." She told me as she helped me ease the shirt on and then the pants she had provide. "You'll need to eat and then sleep, you have about twelve hours until nightfall and you will need all your strength. I have to get to work, the pub won't clean itself and Mae will only do the one task you set her to unless you tell her what to do next."  
  
"Thank you," I said again as she helped me to the bed, a small table next to it sporting a plate with freshly buttered bread and a glass of milk.  
  
"You're quite welcome, I wouldn't trust a rat in the care of Ripley. If I hadn't been rescued myself, I would have died there." She said matter of factly. "I'm only returning the favor that was dealt to me three years ago."  
  
"What is your name?" I asked as I reached for the bread and broke off a bite-sized bit. She paused for a moment by the door, it seemed as though she was considering whether or not to tell me.  
  
"Audra," she called over her shoulder as she opened the door and breezed through, shutting it behind her softly. I turned to my small meal as I turned over the events that had happened so far. Life had gone from planned to chaos in a matter of days. Life was certainly odd. Exhaustion soon took over and I curled up on Audra's bed. My eyes drifted shut and I relaxed for the first time in days enough to go to sleep.  
  
I woke to Audra's shaking me awake and there was a twinge in my shoulder that made me wince, but all in all I was beginning to feel half way human. My eyes came open with a snap and I looked into Audra's face. I saw a sparkle of fear in her eyes as she stood back up and held out a hand to help me stand. The room was filled with the dusky glow of twilight and the sounds below were telling me that Tortuga was beginning to come alive. I could hear the beginning of music and the laughter of females vying for the attention of males.  
  
"You don't have to come with me Audra, tell me which direction I need to go." I said as she handed me a pair of boots and a hat.  
  
"I can't have you wondering around the streets by yourself." Audra told me tartly as she went to the trunk at the foot of her bed and withdrew two folded pieces of dark cloth. "Sit down and let me pin up your hair."  
  
"You've done too much for me already." I protested as I did what she told me to do, the comb in her hand tugged at my hair, gently reminding me of Aunt Morai when she brushed my hair. She loved my hair, just as she had loved Grandma Briar's hair, and I wore it long because it was how she liked it best. I looked across the room and found that there was a mirror hung above the dresser. Or at least what passed for a mirror in these times. It was a bit of highly polished metal that in this case was rusted and in need of another polishing, but I could still make myself out. My long hair fell past my waist starting in waves and ending in curls. It was too thick and too long to hold curls, though the one time I had cut it to my shoulders it had been a riot of curls.  
  
"You have beautiful hair." She told me and I smiled, yes I did. I knew it, though; I was inclined to think it was my one true beauty. It was so black it held a blue sheen and had both the shine and feel of satin. As I glanced in the mirror I was reconfronted with that belief. My eyes were an odd green-gray color, my skin fair with little color in my cheeks if I did not help it along with cosmetics. A dimple appeared along my jaw line when I smiled, but what was the use of a dimple if it didn't show up in my cheek? I turned away, no longer interested in pursuing the faults of my appearance.  
  
Quickly she twisted and pinned and finally she handed me the hat to go over it all. It was wide brimmed and would hide my face from curious observers. I doubted it was uncommon for someone to be traveling incognito in this city. For that matter I doubted there was too much that would come as a shock. She swirled the cloak around her shoulders and helped me pull the cloak around myself before turning for the door.  
  
"Follow me, do as I say, and what ever you do don't speak." She ordered as her hand fell on the doorknob. "Ripley's men will be searching high and low for you, he's a tight fisted man and doesn't like it when his possessions slip away."  
  
I nodded my understanding and she opened the door where a cool breeze drifted in, telling me we were not too far from the water. Silently we made our way down the stairs, I was still a little light headed, but until I made it to a safe spot I had to stay alert. My heart was pounding frantically under my shirt and I tried to make myself as unnoticeable as possible.  
  
"Stop hiding in the shadows." Audra hissed. "There nothing that will bring suspicion on to us faster than you attempting not to be noticed. Pirates are skittish men and they notice those that don't want to be noticed. You'll draw enough attention with that had pulled down low."  
  
I shivered under my cloak, both in fear and in chill. The fever had come back and despite the warmth that still rose from the cobblestones below my feet I was freezing. Attempting to walk as though I belonged there I followed Audra who fended off the advances of the men around us with practiced ease. She attempted to stay close to me and fend off anyone that might come too close, but there was only so much she could do in a crowd. The honey seemed to be keeping my shoulder from bleeding. I kept glancing at my shirt, but no telltale sign of blood appeared to have made its way through the bandage. Finally the docks were in sight and I sighed with relief.  
  
"I know a man, a fine merchant, that stops in Tortuga from time to time. He sailed in last night." She said softly as we made our way across the docks.  
  
"Out lookin' for a spot of entertainment, love?" a voice asked, it was rather familiar. A figure drunkenly wove through the silver tinted night. There were no gaslights down here to illuminate our way only; the full moon that filled the sky. I could make out the man's bright red bandana, but nothing else as his back was to the moon. Only his outline could be seen rimmed in silver. Audra moved in front of me and backed toward the edge of the dock.  
  
"I'm not interested, man." Audra's voice was calm, but I could feel the tenseness of her muscles. "I'm not that kind of woman."  
  
"Any hope I can make you that kind of woman?" came the response in a voice that was both wry and full of humor. It was a voice I couldn't place, but was tugging at my brain. I searched trying to find why it was familiar, considering the voices of the men I had met so far, it was likely that it was not someone we wanted backing us into a corner. I reached up and tugged my hat loose, and with my good hand I released the catch of my cloak. I had no weapons, but if I could get one I wasn't about to be taken by pirates again.  
  
"What are you doing this time?" A male voice asked from somewhere behind us, with the words came a sigh of impatience. "Are you drunk again?"  
  
"Am I ever sober, young William?" came the reply from the man just in front of us. "Life's always more interesting with a spot of rum."  
  
Audra's muscles were bunched tightly ready to spring, and I new I would find a matching rhythm of my thudding heart in her chest. I did not think of my wound, I did not think of whether or not I could take a full grown man in a real fight, all I could see as I glanced behind me was the shine of metal at the side of the man behind us. With a swiftness I had practiced over and over again I moved toward him and drew the sword from its sheath as I pushed him back. Taken off guard he stumbled back and landed on the dock with a thunk.  
  
"I didn't know you had company, love." The voice came as the man took stock of me. "Do you really think it wise to cross blades with a pirate lad?"  
  
"Do you think I fear you?" I spat, my voice sounding like a cat hissing its irritation. He looked at me for a moment and with a shrug he pulled his sword from its resting place.  
  
"I suppose we'll find out won't we?" the man said attacking with a speed that left me struggling to just get out of the way, forget blocking. I nearly made it, but felt the ghostly touch of his blade slice a bit of my hip as I flung myself out of reach. It burned white hot, but my mind was not on pain. Audra gasped as I moved past her, my feet already engaged in the deadly dance of the fight. I was too slow, too weak, to unsteady, and the man I fought was toying with me as a cat with a mouse.  
  
"Your form isn't half bad, lad, it's a shame ya have no strength. Give it up boy." The man said with a laugh in his voice that only angered me further.  
  
"No." it was the only thing I had the time to say, Audra had helped me thus far, and I would be damned if I was going to allow them to take either of us. At least not while I still had breath in me. My hair had been haphazardly pinned and I could feel it coming loose of its moorings. A soft tendril brushed my face and as it fell, the pirate I fought paused. I took the opening I had and thrust in, a move that might have worked had he not been faster and anticipating the blow. He casually stepped to the side and around me, an arm sliding around my waist and a sword coming to my throat.  
  
"Lavender." He said softly taking a deep breath. "Drop ya weapon lass, there's no way you'll win."  
  
"I'd rather die trying than allow my friend or I to be taken." I hissed attempting to duck far enough to bite the arm that held the sword still at me throat. The sword touched my neck with a razor sharpness that made me instantly stop struggling. My heart sank, but tears did not come this time, all my tears had been used before. My head spun like a top and a roaring was starting in my ears. I could feel the stickiness of the honey mixed with my blood as the wound had seeped through the bandage and shirt in the fight. He jostled my shoulder as he reached for the hand around my waist for the sword that lay at my side. I groaned and the sound of metal clattering on wood was heard as the flash of pain forced me to drop my weapon.  
  
"You're injured." The man said again, his nose smelling the metallic scent of blood.  
  
"You're quick." I responded as my legs gave way beneath me. The man lowered me to the dock his hand going to the shoulder of my shirt and pulling it aside.  
  
"But women don't fight." Looking up I found myself seeing the face of Turner, though it looked older somehow.  
  
"When did you grow up?" I asked, my mind unable to process such an odd triviality.  
  
"You've got a lot to learn William." I turned to look at the face that was now bathed in moonlight.  
  
"Jack Sparrow!" I said with surprise, a faint smile graced his mouth before he looked to William again. Audra hung back, watching the scene with curiosity plain on her face.  
  
"Captain Jack Sparrow." He corrected. "Let's get her on board and give Anna Maria a good look at her. Ripley will be out lookin' for her to be sure."  
  
I felt a pair of strong arms slide beneath me, and the scent of the sea and freedom hung on the man that held me.  
  
"I can heal her." I heard Audra's voice say as I closed my eyes. "I know a good bit about herbs and the like."  
  
"Do ya lass? And will ya want to be returnin to Tortuga then, we planned on leavin' in the morn." Sparrow's voice came from my left.  
  
"No," came the answer. "We'll be going to Port Royal, I have money I'll pay."  
  
"We'll get you as close as we can." I heard Sparrow say. "We'll discuss payment later."  
  
I wondered what would be expected of us as the moonlight faded and the pain took me to unconsciousness, where I would feel it no more.  
  
Dagerz: Well, it's been a while since I updated, but I hope you still like it. I try to make well-written stories, thank you for your sweet compliment.  
  
Rumor: Maybe it was lost when I reuploaded the story. It's quite possible. I wonder where that particular sentiment came from, hmmmm, more like Briar than we thought perhaps? I was really trying to keep Jack's character true to the form of the movie. Newsies is so much easier to write, all the characters are rather half developed, in Pirates though they are rather complicated. It's been a challenge. Thank you for checking it out for me.  
  
Miserylovescompany: Well I updated, it took me a while, but I did it. Both my Mush story and this have been fully updated now. I'll try to be more on it. I am very glad you enjoy this story; I hope you continue to read it. Thank you.  
  
Dreamer: And here enters Audra, I added her as you wanted. She's a little bit of a mix and match as well. I wanted to thank you, I went to look at your stories and caught your Bio. It means so much to me that you were supporting me; really it does so I updated this just for you. . I wanted to thank you for trying to get support for this story. Thank you honey really it means a lot to me. Love ya!  
  
Heavnzhelper: Thank you, I was rather liked the tie ins myself, I hope you continue to enjoy it. Thanks!  
  
Sugar: Sorry for dragging the suspense out for so long. I really hope you continue to read it and I will update it more often I promise!!! 


	6. Storms Brewing

I could feel the gentle rocking of the sea as I groggily came back into consciousness. A gentle breeze tickled my face teasing me with the scent of the ocean. Male voices murmured near me and if I felt like concentrating I was sure I would be able to make out what they said. I was too content for that though, I felt as if I was waking from a nightmare, to finally find my life had returned to normal. Both voices were familiar and I smiled softly.  
  
"Dorian." I murmured, "Did I hit my head?"  
  
The voices stopped and I could feel the gaze of the two gentlemen upon me, my eyes were gritty as though I had been crying in my sleep and my tears had sealed them closed. They were actually stuck and I struggled for a moment to open them.  
  
"Eh?" came one of the voices. "What is she babbling about?"  
  
"I'm not quite sure, it sounded as though she called out a name." Came the other. "Perhaps she can tell us to whom she belongs, Audra certainly didn't know."  
  
"Did ya ever think lad, that she might not have anyone?" the first voice asked, his voice telling me that he was exasperated at the second.  
  
"Well she can't stay here, Gibbs is about to have a litter of elephants with three women on board." The second replied.  
  
"Mighty uncomfortable that would be." The first said thoughtfully. I couldn't stifle the giggle that came to my lips afterward. Rubbing at my eyes brought a sharp pain to my shoulder and all of it came flooding back. I sat up, rapping my head on the bunk above me with a sharp thud that sent me back down cursing.  
  
"Well it seems she's well acquainted with pirates." The first voice said, one that I recognized as Jack. Rubbing my eyes I forced them open and looked at the two men that were less than a foot away, both with very different expressions on their faces. Jack's face held a bit of amusement and something that made me think he was impressed by my extensive profane vocabulary. The other looked at me with an expression of distaste and shock. His chocolate colored eyes studied me with contempt, and I felt the immature urge to stick my tongue out at him.  
  
"Do you have a beef?" I grumbled at him challengingly as I offered him my best glare.  
  
"Um, no actually, but I am quite sure the cook might have a bit of beef if you would like." He replied, completely missing my challenge.  
  
"I meant do you have an issue in which you would care to discuss." I said mimicking his proper tone. I caught a flickering of a smile on Jack's face before he coughed and turned to me in a business like manner.  
  
"Actually lass, there is one bit of business." Jack said carefully keeping all traces of amusement out of his voice, but I could see his eyes dancing with humor. "Is there anyone we can contact for ya? Any family?"  
  
"Do you mean is there anyone you can ransom me back to?" I responded wryly. "No."  
  
"Well, then the woman ya came on board with, Audra, has offered to pay your passage into Port Royal, do ya have any objections to such an offer?" He asked.  
  
"Not at all, it isn't as if I have anywhere else to go." I sighed looking to the window. "I have no way to get home."  
  
"I thought you didn't have any people." Jack's companion asked, his voice was carefully neutral and I raised an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Do you ever lose your temper?" I questioned, changing the subject, not really interested in trying to explain myself at the moment. He looked at me blandly and I could see Jack trying not to laugh yet again.  
  
"Young William is often one to let cooler heads prevail." Jack answered for him. "Now then tell me one other thing, what is it that makes John Ripley so interested in you?"  
  
"I haven't the foggiest." I told him with a shrug that made me wince. Both men exchanged glances. "If you have any ideas please feel free to share."  
  
"He looked at your shoulder before he made the decision to buy you. Do you have a mark of some sort there? Something that would alert him to some valuable asset you might have?" William asked, his irritation forgotten in the pursuit of something more interesting. That might be good to know, he seemed to have a relatively long fuse.  
  
"No," I started to say and then my mind flew back to the moment he bought me. It had been my right shoulder he was looking at, a shoulder I did have a mark on, one that I had had for so long that it was not the first thing I would have thought of. "Wait, I think I do, I have burn on my shoulder. My aunt's house caught fire when I was eight and I tripped trying to find my way out. I almost died, but a fireman managed to pull me out. When I fell I landed on the plaque that they had hung on the wall; it had an upraised figure on it. It was a family crest of sorts, a moon with a rope of ivy wrapped around it, and our family name. Luckily it was just the crest that was burned."  
  
When I mentioned the crest, I saw Jack start, but then he looked back at me blandly. I was sure I had seen a flash of recognition across his face.  
  
"And that was years ago; brands will change shape on one so young." William said. "It couldn't possibly be recognizable now."  
  
"I guess I must be special." I responded with a smile. "It's always looked as it did the day I received it."  
  
"Has anyone else in your family received such scars before?" Jack asked, his attention focused on things far more important than the realistic side of such things.  
  
"Only one that I can thing of." I told him, surprisingly never asking why he wanted to know. It just didn't cross my mind, but then Jack Sparrow was always one to make women forget a logical train of thought. "My great- grandmother."  
  
"I see." Jack said musingly, his eyes traveling over me in curiosity for a moment before his face went blank and his mind seemed to shift gears. " What are ya doin' standin' about William, there's work to be done."  
  
William glanced at me and I looked at him in surprise at Jack's sudden turn about. William it seemed was used to such things, and I shrugged figuring it was by far not the oddest thing I had seen. Trust me; if I could get my hands on one shiny amulet I would be out of their hair forever.  
  
"Jack." I said quietly, wondering if perhaps there was some way they could help me get it back. I wasn't about to let them know I was looking for an heirloom, and probably a very valuable emerald. "Do you happen to know where the Nautilus goes to, where it might stop?"  
  
"You mean where it might make berth?" William asked figuring out before Jack did where my train of thought was going.  
  
"I guess so." I replied not entirely up on my nautical terms.  
  
"And what business would you have with the Nautilus, other than staying far away from it?" Jack asked. "They'll sell you again if given the chance."  
  
"There's a man on board, he has something of mine and I want it back." I said with a tone in my voice that told of my hatred.  
  
"It would be wise to let it go." Jack said his eyes boring through me with an understanding that I wasn't sure I liked. "A lass such as yourself could never take a trinket from any crew member of the Nautilus. After all, the wound on your shoulder should be testimony to that."  
  
"I didn't receive the wound on board the Nautilus." I said my eyes glaring back at him with anger at his warning. "I received it in a duel."  
  
"With what weapon?" William's voice held a note of disbelief, one that made me bristle. I was not blessed as he was with an easy temper, and it was rapidly on the rise.  
  
"With a rapier if you must know, I might not be the best with a cutlass, but give me a fair rapier fight and I'll best you." I boasted, my voice sounding confident, while in all actually I wondered if I could. Though if there were a sword made for a woman to fight with it would be a rapier. Light and fast, quick stabs and parries, it was made for the swift. There was no hacking, no attacks based on shear brutal force, instead it was based on the quick of mind and the faster of body.  
  
"There is no such thing as a fair rapier fight." Was William's reply, he looked smug with what he thought was knowledge I did not have. That was the other advantage of a rapier fight; it was every man for himself. Whatever you could use to win you used, and a woman was afforded distractions that most men would falter with.  
  
"Precisely." I said giving him a smug look of my own. "When my shoulder's better, I'll show you what I mean."  
  
"She had good form William." Jack mused looking from William, to me, and back again. "She wouldn't be the first woman I've know that knows a sword, just one of very few. She could use a little more strength though."  
  
"You try fighting with an infected cut on your arm and add in fatigue and lack of food, then you tell me how well you fight." I grumbled glaring mutinously at him. He just flashed me that golden smile as the door opened to admit Audra. The sunlight caught in her hair, turning it to a soft amber brown, and she smiled at me as she made her way into the room.  
  
"Mistress Audra." William said nodding his head at her, she returned his nod as she sank down to her knees in front of my bunk, her hands going to neck of my shirt and pushing it down my shoulder. Williams's eyes widened and he blushed for a moment and I was suddenly reminded of the resemblance to Turner.  
  
"Jack, what happened to Turner?" I asked, suddenly remembering the brave young man who had attempted to rescue me.  
  
"I am Turner." William said looking at me in confusion; I looked at Jack with nearly the same expression.  
  
"I'm not talking about you, I mean the other Turner. The one that was onboard the Nautilus." I said to William who looked at Jack, his eyes narrowing. Jack looked at both of us with an expressionless face.  
  
"I was waitin' for the opportune moment, but it seems it will have to be now." Jack sighed, finally deciding there was no way he was going to get out of questions on both of our faces. "While speaking with Captain Malachi of the Nautilus, I managed to recover a bit of your family history as it were. Morgan Turner is now as we speak below preparing himself to take on his new role as cabin boy of the Black Pearl. I bought him out of slavery."  
  
"And who is Morgan Turner?" William asked, his face telling me he was rapidly trying to find the conclusion that Jack was leading toward.  
  
"Your brother, man." Jack replied before turning and weaving his way toward the door. He paused to glance back at a dumbstruck William and flashed that smirk I was becoming accustomed do. "Or your half brother."  
  
"Now just a minute Jack." William snapped as Jack disappeared out the door. "What do you mean by this?"  
  
I didn't hear Jack's response, but I was quite certain it wasn't the answer William wanted. Jack just didn't seem like the kind of man that would give you a straightforward answer, and on the rare occasion he did, I doubted he gave you all of the information. I felt for William, under the circumstances learning he had a half brother might not be the best of news.  
  
I winced as Audra cleaned out the wound, which appeared no longer be as inflamed. For the first time I wondered how long I had been unconscious. It was getting to be a problem, this slipping in and out of sleep.  
  
"How long was I asleep?" I asked as Audra began the process of replacing the bandages.  
  
"Four days." She said, not looking up at me as she continued her work. "Between the rum and the fever you slept for most of it. The fever finally broke sometime last night. You'll rest for the next few days; I don't want you reinjuring it. If all goes well I'll stitch it shut in a fortnight."  
  
"You mean I have to stay here in this bunk for another four days?" I snapped. " No way, I can't stay cooped up in here, I need my amulet back, I need to go home."  
  
"You need to stay here before you end up as sick as you were before." Audra admonished. "I'll not have you at death's door again, and if you end up there, you're on your own."  
  
"Damn and hell." I hissed flouncing over on my good shoulder and turning my back on her.  
  
"If I have to make William tie you to the bunk I will do so." Audra warned, I could hear the rustlings of her skirts as she rose. I did not respond and I heard her foot steps cross the room followed by a soft thud of the door closing. Once I was alone again I rolled back over and stared at the porthole as much a prisoner as I had been the first time I had awoken in this time. Without the amulet I was lost here, with no way to return, my thoughts turned to Grandma Briar and her problems with the past. I did have one advantage she had not had. I had her adventures to learn from. I would have to be more careful that she in how I acted, my words had confused William, but it seems with Jack's innate oddness he had taken it with a grain of salt. I could hear the waves lapping against the side of the boat and feel the soft rocking; the sunlight warmed the room and the breeze from the open portal kept it comfortable. The smell of the sea was intoxicating and I found myself wanting to make my way to the deck and let the wind fly through my hair. In aggravated frustration I sat up slowly, then placed my feet on the silky wood of the floor beneath me. My legs however, were too weak to hold me and it made my shoulder ache like the blazes, so with a irritated burst of air I laid down and closed my eyes.  
  
Dreams assailed me before I knew it, dreams of home, of the worry of my friends. Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel though, did not seem as worried as everyone else. I saw Aunt Morai in the family house in upstate New York, her eyes on the portrait of Grandma Briar that was above the mantle. The vivid green of the jewel about her throat seemed almost real.  
  
"It took her, didn't it Gabe." I heard her whisper, I saw my uncle place a comforting hand on her waist. "The amulet took her, there is no other explanation."  
  
"She was in London, love, there are many other explanations." Uncle Gabriel told her, I could tell by his face he hadn't wanted to point out the realistic side of things.  
  
"But Dorian saw her, he said he turned back, he didn't want to leave her alone." Aunt Morai protested. "He said she glowed and then she fell to the water, but there was no splash."  
  
"Yes, and that is our hope, that she is safe." Uncle Gabriel assured her. Aunt Morai did not respond. Instead she closed her eyes and leaned against my uncle, tears streaming down her face. My own heart ached, but I was only able to watch the scene. I wanted to run and hug them both and tell them I was all right, but I couldn't, it was as if I was a ghost.  
  
I woke then tears streaming down my face the wood of the bunk above me dark in the night. The moonlight splayed across the floorboards making the room bright despite the darkness that sought to over run it. I could hear the even breathing of someone sleeping and slowly I sat up. My shoulder ached fiercely, but I attempted to ignore it. Between the pain and my unsettling dreams I doubted I would be able to sleep for long. I placed my feet on the floor, the wood cool in the night and the breeze that still came through the portal was a little chilly, with the tang of rain in the air.  
  
I placed my hand on the bunk above me to steady me as I stood, my legs both shaky from my ordeal and unused to the buck of the sea. I stood for a moment testing myself and then I took my first step. Glancing up at the bunk I saw Audra's face bathed in moonlight, her skin creamy in the light and her hair dark. Walking as a toddler does when it begins to take it's first steps, I made my way across the room until I reached the small desk that had been bolted into the wall. On it lay a comb, a bit of paper that had been scribbled on with a feminine scrawl, and a compass. Picking up the compass I rolled it in my hands, watching the needle turn attempting vainly to find the direction despite my twirling. I could relate to it, I felt very much the same way it would have, had it feelings. The breeze toyed with my hair and I had the sudden urge to leave the cabin. I felt as if I were cooped up for much longer I would go mad. Unsteady as I was I managed to make my way to the door. Each step was getting stronger; though and soon I was moving more surely if not more swiftly. I opened the door softly and glanced back at Audra, who was still sleeping soundly.  
  
I felt like a teenager attempting to sneak out of my parent's house, which was a new feeling. Living with Aunt Morai and Uncle Gabriel there had never been any need to sneak out. They had been pretty easy going and had let me do, as I had wanted, provided it was done with at least a mediocre amount of brains.  
  
I walked down the hallway to the steps that lead up onto the deck, using my good arm to brace myself on wall. Carefully I made my way up the stairs and as I stepped out of the shelter of the ship the wind caught my hair, sending it flying about me in a whirlwind. The air was fresh and clean, I could feel the soft touch of raindrops beginning to fall. I turned in the direction the wind was blowing and took in a deep breath, my hair streaming behind me, making me feel as if I was riding the wind. I had always loved the feel of air rushing past me.  
  
The moon was behind me, still high in the sky, but beginning it's descent and I could see the clouds gathering in front of me. Flashes of lightning struck with deadly accuracy across the sea, still too far away to be heard.  
  
As I stood at the rail and looked out at the on coming storm I wondered what fate had in store for me now. It had already taken my life and sent it twirling like a bird lost to the gales of a hurricane. I knew from my ancestors mistakes that fate could be harsh and unforgiving in it choices. I knew those that fought against its pull were often punished, and making their struggles a useless gesture. I also knew that I was in a precarious position, the past was nearly as unforgiving.  
  
Times were different, far different here than in the turn of the century like Grandma Briar had gone to. The differences between the traditional roles of men and women far deeper set than then. Still Grandma Briar had just begun her studies of the turn of the century; I had been trying to emulate this time period for the past five years. I had learned to dress, speak, and act as if I were a person of this time. We would see how well I had studied my chosen subject, and just how well I could learn to fit in. Here it might be death if I didn't do well.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Dreamer: *Tackles back* So did you. I was so pleased when you sent your latest chapter to me, I missed your writing! Thank you I don't always feel like I'm talented, it's very sweet of you to say so. The wedding plans are doing well, and it won't be happening for another year. Next May. I hope you post more soon!!  
  
Rumor: Ah, grandma you are ever constant aren't you. Pirates are always yummy! What character I've never read any such character, are you holding out on me? I'm glad Jack sounds like himself, I'm really struggling with trying to keep his character without just quoting from the movie, but there were phrases he said often enough I am sure he would have used them all the time. Hey we're doing a festival in Kansas this weekend, you were from Kansas right? Or maybe it was one of the other NJL members. Thanks for the review!!! 


	7. Storms Breaking

I leaned against the rail as I watched the storm, it seemed we were steering directly toward it. Lightning flickered behind me casting my shadow on the ground, my hair twirled wildly around me making the waves look like Medusa's snakes. I glanced back as another flash came and saw the outline of a man at the wheel, rocking steadily with the ship. On the wind I could almost catch the ghostly sound of his voice as he muttered to himself. I could not see his face, but somehow I knew it was Captain Jack.

He took no notice of me, though I knew he was fully aware of where I was. My gut was telling me that not much slipped past Jack's notice. I watched him for a moment,, amused at his antics, before returning my contemplation to the sea.

"What are you doing here?" a voice rasped from behind me. My hand flew to my chest as my heart stopped beating for a few moments. I could see nothing and I almost panicked until a flash of light lit the face of Will Turner.

"What are you doing here?" I asked crossly. "You very nearly scared the life out of me."

"It's as it should be." He said clearing his throat and his voice returning to its normal rich sound. "No woman has any business wondering around at night alone."

"Did you get too much sun today?" I returned sweetly and turned to go. "I can handle myself thank you." I called over my shoulder as I started away.

"Could you really?" Will asked, his hand wrapping around my uninjured arm and turning me back to face him. "I don't think so. I knew another girl who once thought like you do."

"Once?" I queried quietly sensing the pain in his words.

"Once." He said with a finality that I knew I wouldn't have to question further to find what happened to this other girl.

"Well, I am not that other girl." I assured him "I do not need a man to protect me."

"Yes, that is exactly what she thought." Will replied. "Tell me what makes you think that you are safe on the Pearl when you were not safe on the Nautilus. We are pirates as well, Jack Sparrow is infamous."

"Jack also tried to save me from Captain Malachi." I told him, lifting my chin and glaring mutinously at him. "I don't believe I have had a choice in whom I trust. I woke up here in the middle of the sea after all. Though Audra seems at ease with you."

"Yes, but Audra is a healer, a rare one at that." Will said, a smirk lifting one corner of his mouth. "We pirates are obsessed with the rare, and a healer is rarer still among us. We often have need of such skills. You however have no talents we can use, or at least none that we know about."

The last was said with a sneer that made my spine stiffen and my hand rise. It was flying through the air before I knew what I was doing and collided solidly with Turner's cheek. His head whipped around and remained turned away for a moment before he turned back to me.

How dare you." I hissed, fear at the way his hand dug into my arm flashing through me, but I was unwilling to back down. "If I have any talents that remain unknown, you will be the last to know. I'll earn my weight around here, so don't you worry about it. Why is it all the men I've met seem to think I'm a woman of dubious virtue? Do you treat all women as if they were whores?"

"You don't exactly have the mannerisms of a blushing virgin." Will snapped. He seemed a little taken aback as a flash of lightning lit my face and a gust of wind swirled around me finally blowing my hair back from my face. I knew my eyes were flashing and my face set in a look of fury.

"What mannerisms are those William?" I questioned, my voice low, carrying a warning he'd be a fool to ignore.

"Any woman who wonders about in men's clothing is obviously a woman of dubious virtue. Those were your words, yes?" He didn't wait for me to give any affirmation to his words. I wouldn't have anyway. Young William was certainly a fool, but from the glassiness of his eyes and the jug of rum in his hand I figured it must be liquid courage that was making him act so. Not forgivable, by any means, still I took less offense to what he said. "Look at you wondering about the deck with your bum and your legs in full view of any man that might care to look. And you certainly don't look at a man with maidenly shyness, bold and straight as though you were a man yourself."

"So because I don't simper and I wear a disguise for my own protection I am now a wanton woman?" I asked incredulously "Please, surely you can come up with something better than that."

Without warning he lunged toward me his hands slipping to my waist and anchoring me as he bent his head for a kiss I didn't see coming. It took me a moment to get over my shock and realize exactly what had happened, but by that time it was too late. I responded hesitantly to the passion that I would never have guessed ran beneath William's cool exterior. I now knew what the romance novels talked about when they spoke of women who were cool yet passionate. I stumbled a bit when he pulled away, my mind in scattered pieces.

I desperately grasped at what we had been arguing about, my mind still frozen by William's kiss. The only thoughts that circled in my brain were those focused entirely on this new experience. Never before had I felt as I did when he kissed me. Never had I wanted to match a kiss passion for passion before. What was wrong with me? This man had called me a whore.

My head swung up to the man in question to find him leaning against the rail of the ship nonchalantly, a smile of triumph curving his lips.

"Not a kiss of a virgin either." He said once he had my full attention.

"A kiss does not answer the question of virginity." I growled, my temper really beginning to boil at this point. I knew if I lost my tempter though he would have the upper hand, and that was the only think keeping my white knuckled hold on it.

"You can not say you have not known passion."

"To know passion and to act on passion are two totally different issues." I shot back.

"So let us put it to the question, are you Miss.................." he trailed off, suddenly realizing he did not even know the name of the woman he was insulting.

"Jameson." I replied deciding instantly he was not worthy of my christian name.

"Miss Jameson." He continued not fazed in the least. "Are you a woman of dubious virtue or are you a maiden as pure as untouched snow?"

"I don't see how that is any of your business." I retorted.

"A scarlet woman then." He replied in kind.

"How dare you." I snapped for the second time raising my hand yet again in proper response to such a statement. He was ready this tim,e and his hand caught my wrist effortlessly.

"I wouldn't do that." Came his warning.

"Young William, it's a sad day indeed when I see discredited the honor of a lady." Jack's voice was heard over Will's shoulder, glancing up, I could see him moving in time with his ship as he watched us below him. " Been drinkin' again?"

"I might have had a drop or two." Turner shot back, his eyes still on my face as he talked with the Captain, but he did drop my hand. I just glared at him with all the rage I could muster. If looks could kill, my look would have had him writhing on the floor. The thought of such an occurrence was enough to bring a malicious smile to my lips. His attention left my face at the spiteful look and turned to Jack. " Though it isn't as though you're one to talk, was it you that just a few nights ago said 'life is more interesting with rum'?"

"Yes, but you see young William, I happen to be a good tempered drunk." Jack responded moving down the stairs with a swagger. "And a good tempered drunk you can always be sure will be civil, however, a bad tempered drunk such as yourself can always be counted on to ruin any mood, good or bad. Don't run away with ya mouth young William, ya may regret your words come morning. I however, don't often regret my words drunk or sober, and the ladies are rarely unentertained by me."

"I'll bet." I said wryly to his wink in my direction.

"You on the other hand are a horrible nasty drunk, and no one wants to be within three feet of you the moment you have rum down your throat. He drinks for all the wrong reasons, really. Doesn't even like the taste of the liquid."

This was said off handedly to me though with an air of confidence despite the fact that Will stood only a few feet away glaring balefully at Jack.

"What a shame." I chuckled amused once again at Jack's lighthearted banter and the opportunity to needle Will myself.

"The wrong reasons Jack?" he asked, even in the dim light I could see his cheeks flushed with anger. "When are there ever right reasons?"

"You don't do her memory any good my lad by drinking yourself into oblivion. Not to mention she would be appalled to see you acting so." Jack said softly. I wouldn't have heard it had the wind not been blowing in my direction.

"What good is her memory to me?" Will asked bitterly. "She is not here and that is all that matters."

I felt my heart ache for him, despite what he had said to me, he was wounded deeply by the loss of this girl; I wondered what she had been to him. Had she been a sister, a lover, a wife? Sympathy combined with pity swam through my veins bringing with it forgiveness for his words, despite my wishes. I was still angry, yet at the same time I understood and it was the understanding that caused the forgiveness. It was a trait that was both a blessing and a curse. I was not one to hold grudges and I was quick to forgive, some times too quick. My hand reached out of it's own accord in a comforting gesture.

"Don't touch me with your filthy hands." Will roared, the meaning of the word filthy clear after our earlier argument. I snatched my hand back a feeling of hurt washing through me, but I didn't move them quick enough and he batted them away with considerable force. Pain shot white hot up my arm and down my back and I felt the tears in my eyes from the pain. I groaned as I leaned against the side of the ship and felt Captain Jack reach for me as I saw white stars.

"This is getting redundant." I muttered., as Jack's hands closed over my upper arms and held me upright.

"Lass, can you hear me?" he bellowed into my ear and I waved the other hand weakly at him.

"I can hear you, a dead man would be able to hear you." I growled as I blinked the tears from my eyes. "Damn thing isn't stitched yet."

"Ya shouldn't be out wanderin' lass." Jack told me I shrugged it off and turned my back on them both.

"Perhaps not." I said wearily looking out at the sea and feeling homesick. "I shouldn't even be here."

"And where should you be?" Came the question I knew would be asked.

"I should be in a place I can't reach." I replied cryptically before falling silent. It was a silence they seemed to realize they wouldn't be able to breech, for neither of them asked more.

"I'll help ya back to your cabin." Jack said instead, holding his hand cajolingly out to me. I took it; suddenly ready to find the comfort of my bed. I was tired both physically and emotionally. As we passed Will a flash of light caught his features making them stark in the darkness. His eyes stood out the most, so full of anguish and pain that my heart instantly went out to him. Some of the emotion he invoked must have been transparent on my face for his face closed off and he turned away.

"Very interesting." Was all Jack said as he led me away. My mind was on what had happened with Will, as we made our way down the steps. Jacks hand held firmly to the upper part of my good arm to steady me. He was as steady as he never could possibly be on land as he helped me along.

What ever had happened to the girl Will spoke of had scarred the man for life. I wondered if he ever would get beyond it or if he would spend the rest of his life bitter over it. I wondered what had happened, I couldn't help it. Natural curiosity ran in the family. For that matter, so did falling for men in other times. At least one other relative had managed it. I wondered if I could not get home, how many of my children would become my ancestors. An odd thought really, one I had never contemplated before. Did this mean then that we were meant to come back, that it had been preordained that we do such things? Perhaps it was us going back in time that balanced things. It was something I would have to contemplate.

I shook my head as I realized where my thoughts were heading. I would not accept this as my fate, unlike Aunt Morai I didn't believe in such things. I would have to keep reminding myself that I did not belong here, I didn't want to be here, and I certainly didn't want the urge to fix the wayward emotions of William Turner. Still I couldn't help the warm feeling that settled in the pit of my stomach as I thought of him. He was handsome there was no doubt about that, but he had been injured. I knew from past experience that trying to heal the injured heart and pride of a man only brought pain to the one stupid enough to try to help.

"He's a good man." Jack said to me, and I glanced at him curiously.

"I'll bet he is." I responded, "I'm not certain I care whether he's a good man or a bad one, just so long as he doesn't try to attack or rape me I'll be perfectly happy."

"Ya must be interested if he's a good man, if ya weren't then ya wouldn't care if he did attack or rape you." Jack pointed out. I rolled my eyes, irritated he had pointed out a very reasonable flaw in my argument. Truth be know I was finding myself more interested in Will than I wanted to admit. I was certain it was really no more than a little crush, after all it wasn't uncommon for women to get all fluttery over a man that had saved them.

' Then why aren't you all fluttery over Jack. He should get most of the credit for saving you.' A little voice in my head asked, one that I stamped down on ruthlessly. I had been here only a few days, and the last thing I needed was to get attached to anyone. I was going to be gone the moment I found that amulet.

' But what if you can't find the amulet?' The voice came again. ' And even if you do find it, what makes you think you can control it. It will only work for you if the circumstances are right and deep down you really want to go home.'

"I will find it." I snapped "And I will go home."

As soon as the words came out of my mouth I realized my mistake. Jack looked at me appraisingly, but with none of the suspicion of insanity I expected. It seemed as if he understood me, which only made me more nervous. Then again if there was anyone that would not worry about my sanity it would be Jack Sparrow, he certainly was a bit touched himself.

"Here you are." Jack said and I found that we had stopped; he said nothing however. Instead he gestured down the hall in the wide sweeping manner he did all things in. "I'll be in my cabin. If you should take it into your head to go wondering about my ship again it would be best if you let me know first."

"I'll try to remember that." I told him giving him a smile that told him I had absolutely no intention of remembering if I could help it. He shook his head as he made his way back up the stairs to the set of steps that lead from the deck to the captain's quarters. Smiling a little to myself I opened the door to the cabin I was currently sharing with Audra to find her awake and glaring at me.

"I told you to stay in bed." She said with a considerable amount of irritation.

"I never said I was good at doing what I was told." I replied with no little heat myself. Her eyes widened at the sight of blood once again at my shoulder.

"This is exactly why I did not want you to leave your bunk." She grumbled as she eased the shirt away so she could look at the damage. I winced at the flash of pain, but allowed her to poke at it.

"I seem to be very good at reopening it." I said wryly, trying to lighten the situation, but she only scowled at me, letting me know it was not the best of ideas to remind her of this fact. "I promise I'll stay in here tomorrow, I couldn't handle being cooped up any longer."

"You're as bad as a man." She muttered in a voice designed to be loud enough to be heard, but still seem as though she hadn't meant for me to hear.

"I needed fresh air Audra." I pleaded looking properly forlorn. "The only time I've seen the open sky since I've come here was the night you took me to the docks."

"Well you won't be seeing anything if you keep opening this." She grumbled as she took out a bit of rum and some cloth to clean it with. "Still if you hadn't continued to open it, it would have killed you. You let the infection drain every time you reopened it."

"See I was actually doing it good." I said between clenched teeth as she poured the rum into it.

"Not any longer darling." She replied though she smiled as she said it. "For the next four days you stay in here and you do not move it do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." I said as she helped me lay back, suddenly too tired to argue, though she caught the sarcasm in my voice. I could tell by the flash of the dimple in her cheek.

"Sleep, you need rest the most." She whispered though I was already drifting off. My mind was exhausted from pain and emotional toil. I had a feeling that fate had played a cruel trick on me be placing me on the Pearl with William Turner. Then again, so far fate hadn't been the kindest of forces.

Miserylovescompany: Thank you, if I made you feel like you were on the ship then I did my job! I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you continue to do so.

Rumor: Wow, it's been a really long time since I updated this story hasn't it. The festival was in Wakini by the way. I have no idea where that is in relation to any other city and it was unfortunately a bust. I read your story and I believe I reviewed it. It was awesome! It's great you took the time to read my chapter even though you had to go to work. Yeah, Jack is sexy enough to make any woman loose her train of thought. I will explain the crest and in the rewrite of Hourglass the crest makes an appearance as well. I promise it will all tie together. Bye Grams and I miss you! Thanks for sending me the beginning DTD.

Ciara Lewis: Thank you I am glad you reviewed despite your hesitations. For a while I was hesitant about continuing to write it. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks again for reviewing.

Dreamer: You better get ready for more groveling. I've updated DTD twice and no review. Where'd ya go Rach? Are you okay? Oh and thanks for the animal crackers and OJ. You're ruthless you know exploiting my weakness, but I love you anyway. Trust me you will see enough of Will and Morgan action, oh, that sounded bad, but you know what I mean. And as for Will and Lill, hey they rhyme; I'm a poet................and I leave it there. I hope to talk to you soon!

XOXSilverDragonXOX: Well hello there. (Does the now infamous new reviewer dance that the POTC section has yet to see. Wow, you've created a first.) Thank you, I really pride myself on attempting a realistic time travel. Well at least as realistic as you can get. I hate the stories where they fall into the past and are immediately accepted. I like causing trouble and often strife in my characters lives for the amusement of others so hold on to your seat. Thank you very much for your review and your complements they mean the world to me truly. I hope to see another review and I hope I have created another chapter you can enjoy.


	8. Frightful Encounters

It was the sunlight that woke me again. It seemed the storm had passed us by, though I could still feel the moisture in the air. I wondered what it looked like outside, but lacked the initiative to get out of bed. The gentle rocking of the ship made me feel like a child being rocked by its mother. I could hear the lap of the water against the side of the ship and smiled to myself. It certainly beat having to get up and make my way into work.

I gazed at a beam of sunshine that looked like transparent gold. It warmed the room and turned the dark wood to a rich mahogany color. As I thought of the night before, my spirits plummeted, as surely, as if I had woken up with a hopeless drizzle. The words Will had spoken to me last night, hit me with a force I wasn't ready for. I found what I had been ready to forgive him for during the night, I was suddenly furious over. It was as if without darkness's shield, the harshness of the words were displayed in the brightness of the day.

He had been intentionally cruel; his words had bit deep and broke the skin. They say the wounds you don't feel are the ones that kill you, and I hadn't felt these ones until just now. I grumbled while I rolled over, away from the window and it's cheery glow. I suddenly wasn't in the mood for it.

I hated it, what made me angrier was my reaction. I couldn't be angry then, oh no, it had to come back and haunt me later. It had to leave me feeling hurt, angry, and no one now to vent it on. Damn Will Turner, with his dreamy brown eyes and soft brown hair that was streaked golden brown with the sun.

"Ugh." I cried rolling over onto my other side. Who cared about his eyes and hair? He was a bastard damn it. What was wrong with me?

'You have always had a knack for picking the jerks.' I reasoned with myself. It was true starting with fourth grade and Ryan Cameron. I had the biggest crush on his dark hair and his blue eyes. He had the coloring of the Black Irish, and I still thought he was good looking, but he was still the biggest ass. 'And you still used his last name in the reenactment group.'

"Shut up." I told myself, as I glanced listlessly about the cabin. With a sigh I leaned around bunk and glanced up. I couldn't see Audra, nor did I hear the telltale sound of her breathing, which was probably a good thing. I certainly wasn't in my sanest form today, already I was arguing with myself, and talking to myself.

I tried to shrug away the feelings that had filled me upon the return of my normal waking memory. Will Turner had made me feel cheap, a feeling I had never experienced before.

' Except with one other guy.' The thought came unbidden into my mind, from the same unerringly truthful voice that had spoken earlier. I closed my eyes and squeezed back the thoughts, the last thing I needed right now was to think of Justin.

"He apologized." I whispered, trying to tell myself, that the apology was all I had needed to forgive the man I was going to marry. "Love means forgiveness."

'And you certainly forgave him often enough.' Tears filled my eyes, it seemed the harshness of today's sun was going to fall on every shadow in my life. 'That's what happens when you almost die Lillia, you suddenly realize all the things that have happened, all the regrets you could have had. He would have made your life miserable and you can't deny it. '

The hair on the back of my neck began to rise and I realized that it was no longer my voice that I heard in my head, it was someone else. It was a soft sweet voice filled with a sorrow I couldn't begin to comprehend. I squeezed my eyes shut and drew the blankets over my head, as I had when I was a child. The room was cool, a breeze drifted through the light blanket that lay across me, a breeze that hadn't been warmed by the sun. In fact it felt as though it had come straight from Antarctica.

'You can not hide you know." The voice came again and it seemed to echo through the room, though it remained as soft as it had been the first time. I could hear the trace of a chuckle 'Not from the truth and not from me.'

My eyes snapped open and I drew the blanket from my head fearfully. Before me in the soft golden glow of the sun, was a woman. She smiled at me through bloodless lips, and I could see the desk on the other side of the room through her. My breath caught in my throat and my eyes felt as though they were so wide my eyeballs would pop out. It was as though I was in one of those horrible nightmares. You know, the kind that when you are confronted with your worst fears, suddenly you can't breath, you can't move, and you can't scream.

Oddly though, my mind immediately took in the details of her. She was faded like an old picture, and that seemed to enhance her beauty. There was no doubt about it; this woman had been absolutely breathtaking in life. She certainly breathtaking now, but it wasn't her beauty that had me turning blue.

"Breathe." She said, snapping her long elegant fingers in front of my face. I jumped, but blessedly took in a deep breath.

What.......w....what do you want?" I managed to get out, my brain too frozen for anything else. Though my mind was taking in every detail of her.

Her wide brown eyes were a faded brown, her hair was a faded gold. Her face was pixie like, with a pointed chin, set off by the elaborate coif on her head. She tilted her head as I studied her, while at the same time I was absolutely terrified of her.

'I've been watching you from the moment Jack Sparrow carried you on board.' She said. 'And you may be able to help us.'

"How do you know about my past?" I asked, my curiosity thawing my fright enough for my mind to begin a sluggish recovery.

'You talk in your sleep." She replied, matter of factly. "I'm may be a ghost, but I certainly can't peer into your mind. While everyone else took it as fretful murmurings and nothing more, I can't afford to let anything slip past me.'

"Really and why is that?" I asked, leaning against my bunk and wrapping my arms around myself, my eyes narrowing. I was still very frightened. I could feel the adrenaline flowing through my veins, making my heart beat faster than the pattering of rain. It was the adrenaline that was allowing my brain to function, albeit sluggishly, while giving my mouth the ability to both answer and ask questions.

"For three years I've watched and waited, knowing that someone was bound to come along that could help us." She told me, the frustration at her wait apparent. She had begun pacing at the beginning of her words and now she stopped before me, her gaze intent. "You have to be it."

"What do you want from me?" I questioned, my voice sharp. "What is it that I must be able to do?"

"I've heard your whispers. I hear what others can not, I know you've walked through time." She said, her excitement palatable. "If you could walk through time, then you could change it. You can mold it, you could bring me back."

"Bring you back?" I asked in confusion. "How do you propose to do that? You can't possibly believe that the future has such powers, because trust me lady we don't.

"But you could go back." She responded, she seemed to glow brighter with hope. " You could save me from dying, and then dear Will and I would never be parted."

"So let me get this straight." My voice was shocked and irritated all in one. "You want me to go back in time and keep you from dying? I don't even know you, why would I want to do that? And what makes you so special that I should disrupt the flow of time?"

"Without you helping me I am tied here forever." She cried, her anger making the room vibrate. She threw her hand out in a gesture of anger and the mirror hanging on the wall, just above the desk, fell. Shards scattered across the floor. "I am tired of haunting this ship, I am tired of wishing to hold Will and comfort him, only to be invisible and ignored. I love him, don't you understand? I love him, and I can't help him because I was too much of a fool to listen to him."

I cowered back on my bed, as footsteps sounded down the hall at the noise. In her anger she was a sight to behold. The wind swirled around the room, causing papers to scatter and my hair to fly. Someone was pounding on the door, but they could not enter. I, however, was frozen. Then just as suddenly, her anger fled and she looked sad, lonely, and lost.

"If you promise to help me I could help you get your amulet back." She offered sweetly, as though just a moment before she had not been a veritable tyrant. "Think about it, we would all win."

She faded as the door flew open; her pleading eyes the last to go. I trembled and stared at the spot she had been. It seemed Briar was spared all the drama that was surrounding me. She hadn't dealt with ghosts, and pirates. I was beginning to think she had the better end of the bargain.

"Lady." The voice was panicked and I finally unfroze enough to look at my visitor. The younger Turner looked back at me, with fear in his eyes and I wondered if he too saw the ghost. "Are you alright, shall I fetch Audra, you're as pale as a ghost."

At the last part, I started laughing in the unhinged sort of way of the hysterical. Which frightened him, it seemed even more.

"A ghost." I gasped, between wild giggles; Morgan just stared at me for a moment, before running out the door.

"Mr. Turner, Mr. Turner." I heard the Morgan's voice cry, but too many odd things had been forced down my throat at one time. It seemed I had finally, momentarily, snapped.

"What do you want?" a voice growled back, a voice I clearly recognized, but was too far-gone to comprehend it.

"It's the Lady," he said frantically. "I'm afraid she's lost her mind."

"Damn it." The voice grumbled, as footsteps quickened their pace to stop just outside my room, where I was still laughing. By now tears spilled down my cheeks and my laughter was beginning to alternate, between sobs and laughter. The tears splashed onto the pillow I hugged to my chest. Tears for the family I had left, tears for the helplessness I felt, tears for the pain I had endured, and tears for the fear I had survived. I had been thrown back in time, almost beaten within an in inch of my life, almost raped, for days I had been slowly bleeding to death, had almost died, been treated like the worst kind of whore, and to top it off I had received a visit from a dead person. Life was just grand.

The footsteps resumed and stopped just short of my bunk, where I could see Will Turner looking down at me helplessly.

"Miss Jameson, Miss Jameson." He said firmly. "You will stop this laughter immediately."

To his dismay I only howled louder, I had no control and he had no control. It seemed, neither one of us was going to get a grasp on the situation. Footsteps neared my bed, but as I looked at Will's boots, he had not moved. I couldn't see where the footsteps came from. My laughter stopped abruptly and I began shaking again. Tears continued to flow down my cheeks and I felt a hand on my head. I jumped high enough to smack my head on the bunk above me.

"Damn it!" I shrieked, the jarring pain in my head, breaking my momentary hysteria. The hand continued to gently run its fingers through my hair, in a calming gesture, one that was familiar. Aunt Morai had put me to sleep by running her fingers through my hair. I looked at the head of the bed to see Morgan Turner's hand, drawing to where my hair disappeared between the pillow and my head, only to return and begin again.

"Are you alright Lady?" he asked softly, and I shook my head, sobs wracking my body and I buried my face in my pillow. It seemed it took a ghost scaring the wits out of me, before I would finally let go of all the emotions. They had been kept on too tight a reign on in the past few days. "What's wrong?"

"Shock." Will said, to his half brother suddenly, in a soft voice. "She's in shock, I've seen it before."

"What can we do for her?" Morgan questioned, his hand becoming still, though it continued to rest on my hair.

"Nothing." Will replied. "She'll make it through or she'll go mad. Still compassion and an unjudging ear often help."

I could hear him move closer and I curled myself into a ball. It did not seem to matter to him and he lifted me from the bed with an ease that irritated me.

"What right do you have to touch me after last night." I sobbed, trying to pull away. His mouth tightened and pain flashed through his eyes.

"None." He told me, but he did not release me. "I can however attempt to atone for it."

I was surprised by his strength, as he lifted me, despite my attempts to make it difficult for him. His arms wrapped around me and my head fit perfectly under his chin as my tears fell into the shoulder of his shirt. I was too far gone to care who held me, but his arms were strong and for the first time in weeks, I felt truly safe.

I heard soft footsteps move away from us, and I knew it was Morgan leaving. The last thing I wanted was to be left alone with the older Turner; but I couldn't raise my head to say something. The comfort seemed to roll off of him and he seemed soft-spoken, sweet even. I could hear Will whispering into my hair, and while I could not make out the words, I could hear the compassion and the comfort in them.

I couldn't match this Will, with man of the night before. This one was calm and quiet, while the other had been aggressive and obnoxious. I glanced up to see him looking down, his eyes were soft now, while last night they had flashed. Last night, he had the bad boy aura, with a bit of the hurt little boy, which is an intoxicating mix to women of all ages. Today, as I looked at him, he seemed mild and gentle.

I lay my head back on his shoulder, too confused by all the happenings and the change in Will, to do much more. He smelled of sunshine, the sea, and the muskiness of a male, with an undercurrent of rum. His muscles were lean and trim beneath my cheek, and he held me with a protectiveness I had never felt before. I had spent so much time trying to be strong around men, that I had never allowed them to protect me. At the same time, I can't very well say that the men of my time, thought about it in the same light as men of Will's time. It had probably been bred into him to protect the weaker fair and weaker sex. Those that didn't adhere to that doctrine, were those that exploited the weak and had very few uses for women. I shivered as I thought of men, that only recently I had learned thought exactly like that.

His arms tightened, as though to shield me from such thoughts and I wanted to burrow deeper into his arms. Instead I closed my eyes and drew back. I couldn't let him support me forever; it wasn't in my nature to allow him to. If my brain hadn't been teetering on the edge of sanity, I would have never allowed myself his help to begin with.

"What a mess you've made." He said, allowing me to move away and gather my wits. I glanced about at the mess that surrounded us and sighed.

"Well..........er........yes." I said, deciding that telling him it was actually a ghost, might tip the scales on the beliefs of my sanity. "I'm afraid I did."

"I'll help you clean it up." He responded kneeling and beginning to gingerly pick up the shards of glass.

"Oh, no that's alright." I said, quickly placing a hand on his wrist to stop him. His gaze met mine and suddenly for the first time in my life I felt shy. "That is, I can take care of it."

"It isn't any trouble." He told me, though he didn't move.

"Is everythin' all right in here?" We both jumped as Jack Sparrow spoke, both of us looking to find him standing at my door. "The younger Mr. Turner was quite upset about Miss Jameson."

"I'm fine." I said quickly, my hand dropping away from Will's wrist. "Really, I had a moment of trouble is all."

"I see." Jack said, giving a pointed look to the room before turning away. "Turner, we could use you on the deck."

"Right." Will returned as he stood taking the glass shards with him. "I'll be along in a moment."

Jack whistled as he made his way down the hall, his footsteps retreating. I looked at the floor, my hands reaching for the next few pieces of glass.

"Miss Jameson." Will's voice was soft, but I jumped despite it. I looked up to find him looking down at me.

"Yes." I replied, sitting back on my knees and cocking my head in a curious gesture, as I struggled to hide my sudden nervousness.

"I want to apologize for the way I treated you, and the things I said last night." Will spoke with a formality, effectively erasing the moment of closeness

"I accept your apology." I said coolly, in the same formal manner. He paused for a instant, before turning and leaving me alone. I watched the empty doorway for a few minutes before I returned to cleaning the broken pieces of mirror.

'It would be best, if you made certain your relationship with Will Turner, remained friendly'. The woman's voice came again, this time laced with venom. She didn't have to finish the threat. I sighed, well, I wouldn't be following in Briar's footsteps if I didn't incur the wrath of a vengeful female; now would I?

"Thanks Grandma Briar." I said aloud, sarcasm dripping from my words, to the forbearer that wasn't even born yet. "I can't imagine a better place than this."

Briar got her cozy little friendship with the newsies, and I got a band of pirates, haunted by a stubborn, spoiled girl. I didn't think her life had anything, on the complications of mine. This was just perfect.

Detroit: It seems I've gotten really good at updating regularly. I wasn't expecting a Will romance either. I started off wanting to do a Will romance, and then I thought it was going to be a Jack romance, only to find out it was a Will story after all. I know I'm odd, you don't even have to say it. I am at the mercy of my muses though. Thanks for the compliments!

Misery Loves Company: There really aren't enough of those. I'm after all they are both attractive, and you never see them portrayed as such in other stories. The other is just there. Thank you I try for descriptive and not boring, it's nice to know it's appreciated. Thanks again!

XoXSilverDragon: Yes and I update again! Yeah me! Thank you for the sweet compliment! He is a little out of character, but I meant for that to happen. He's been drinking and Elizabeth's death has changed him. Thanks again.

Dreamer: I'm sorry that sucks big time. I have to set it up. I promise I'll add in Jack and Audra. Missed you honey! And I'll say it again UPDATE HIDDEN PAST!!!!

Grams: Hey I missed you, by the way, you've missed all the DTD updates, you should check it out drama galore! I loved that part to, it made me laugh. I'm glad it didn't bypass everyone. Really you actually know where we were? Cool! I don't know if we'll do that festival again, it was pretty small and a long way away. Well anyway, thanks for the review!

Ciara Lewis: Wow, the only one you read? I'm blushing really. Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it. I really do try to come up with an actual plot rather than a insert story. Thanks again!

Eclipse: Yeah, it surprised me too. Thanks for the review.


	9. A Woman Like Me

After cleaning up the mess left by the ghost I lay back down, the action had tired me and I had the feeling that in life the girl had been used to things being cleaned up for her. For the first time my bunk actually looked inviting and I threw myself upon it as best I could without harming my shoulder. As it was, I caused a brief flash of pain that made my eyes water.

I rolled things around in my mind, as the ocean rolled underneath me, surprisingly conducive to my brooding. The pieces that had been thrown at me were slowly sliding together. Will had compared me at first to a young woman he had known. He had spoken of her in the past tense, and now a girl who confirmed his story was haunting me. My only conclusion to this, was that this girl was one and the same.

I wondered what Will would say, if I confessed to him of his sweetheart's haunting. I had a feeling he'd find me insane. He didn't seem like the type to believe in ghost stories. Jack Sparrow might be more open to my dilemma, if I were looking for someone to talk with, but he was a pirate and pirates were a highly superstitious lot. I wasn't sure it would be best to let him know I was being haunted, he might think that the ghost was connected to me, he throw me overboard.

The day ticked by slowly, but true to my word I stayed in my bunk or in the cabin. Half way through that first day the wind died, leaving us near Port Royal, but not near enough where the crew wanted to anchor. Come the next morning my shoulder was healing nicely and I had taken to pacing. I couldn't handle being cooped up, I wanted to be up on the deck watching the crew work. I wanted to be somewhere, anywhere, but here in a cabin with nothing to keep me entertained. I had seen neither hide nor hair of Will Turner, Jack, or Morgan. I was certain they were all very busy, but I needed something to break the monotony of the day.

"Would you sit down?" Audra asked, from where she sat at the desk looking over a rare herbal that Jack had found for her amongst the odds and ends of his cabin.

"I can't." I replied, pausing in mid-pace for a moment, only to continue. We were playing a game that she had not yet caught on to. It was called let's irritate Audra until she lets me out.

"It's not difficult you know." She said, turning in her chair to give me an annoyed look. "You walk over to the bunk and bend slightly at the knees until your rump is resting on it."

"Oh is that how it's done?" I asked with a wide-eyed look that made her chuckle. "I've always wondered."

"Alright." She sighed, pushing her chair back and standing. "Alright, we'll go for a turn about the deck."

"Yes!" I cried, bounding for the door, this only brought another chuckle as she followed me. I was down the hall and up the stairs, breathing in the fresh air and reveling at the feel of it on my face. I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the sensation. After a few moments I opened my eyes and looked around. The crew on the deck paid me no mind, they were far to busy. Black sails were being taken down and replaced by white. I looked up to the wheel and as I expected Jack Sparrow was watching the progress with half an eye, the other was on the horizon. Will Turner sat to his right pouring over what looked to be maps. I watched as he traced the paper with his finger only to stop for a moment and write something down. The wind lifted his hair playing with it and his handsome face was set in a look of deep concentration. I felt my heart skip a beat only to start again at a much swifter pace.

"Taken a fancy to him?" Audra's voice made me start, and I glanced back at her with irritation.

"No!" I replied sounding uncannily like a school child; it was just the right amount of irritation, denial, and embarrassment, that told her the exact opposite of what my words said. She only smiled and shook her head, before starting up the stairs leading to Jack and Will. "Audra, wait, we should really go the other way."

"And why's that?" she asked, turning on the stairs and offering me a look that told me she was exacting her revenge for my earlier behavior. I couldn't very well tell her that I wanted to avoid Will, because his dead girlfriend would throw a hissy fit, if she knew I had the remotest bit of an infatuation starting.

"It wouldn't be a good idea." I said evasively, and she rolled her eyes as she stared up the staircase. In frustration I turned to go the opposite direction.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Audra called. "I'll keep you in the cabin until we dock."

"You can't do that." I retorted whirling back to her. "I'd like to see her try."

"William will lock you in if I ask him." Audra replied, her eyes dancing mischievously. "Won't you William."

Will looked up from his maps at Audra blankly. She stood with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Deeming it much better to agree, he gave a grunt of consent before returning to his maps.

"Damn it." I growled starting up the steps. Will glanced up as he heard me taking my frustration out on the stairs. Our eyes met and my irritation vanished. He smiled congenially at me, it was a cool smile, and one you could offer safely to a stranger. To my surprise it only caused my frustration to return. I looked away and out at the ocean and Audra struck up a conversation with Jack. I half-heartedly listened to some improbable story about his adventures, with some natives I had never even heard of. I kept telling myself it was better if Will didn't really notice me.

"How are you feeling?" I glanced to my right, to see Will had abandoned his maps and was standing only a few feet a way.

"What?" I asked, unable to think of anything more intelligent. 'Great, Dorian would be having fits, clever witty Lil is stopped dead by a simple greeting.' I thought closing my eyes and shaking my head at myself.

"Your shoulder, how is it healing?" Will asked, clarifying his earlier statement. I felt the color rising to my cheeks.

"Well, Audra says well." I replied, looking out at the sea to cover up my discomfort. Silence fell and I searched for anything to say. "So why are you changing the color of the sails."

"We're nearing Port Royal." Will replied, looking down at where the men were working. "The Black Pearl is known for her black sails, if we change them for white we'll be more likely to sail under the notice of Commodore Norrington."

"Commodore Norrington?" I asked looking curiously at him. He had said the last rather bitterly.

"He holds a grudge against me." Will explained softly. "And he hates Jack just on principal. A principal only made stronger by the fact he blames us both for Elizabeth's death."

"Elizabeth?" I questioned suddenly more interested in pumping him for as much information about the ghost as possible.

"My wife." Will whispered. "My late wife, she died because she wanted to be in the middle of the action rather than in the cabin where I'd left her."

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said awkwardly, not knowing what else could be said. He did not reply with the usually thank you or assurance that it was all right, instead he stared at the sea, his face impassive and unreadable. I could see the stark pain in his eyes, and the self-recrimination that told me Norrington wasn't the only one who blamed him for Elizabeth's death. Acting on instinct I laid my hand atop his on the rail and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Whatever happened, it's not your fault."

I let my hand linger there for a moment, as he turned to look at me his eyes unfathomable. There was an intensity about them that made me want to step back, but a small sad smile that graced his mouth held me there.

"Miss Jameson." He said softly. "You'll be giving the crew ideas, no matter how innocent your reason for holding my hand. Nor will they ever believe me if I explain the situation."

"Lillia." Audra said, saving me from him, my cheeks already staining red, and my temper heating. I hated the feeling of embarrassment; there were few feelings that were worse in this world. I turned away in frustration, both because of Will and because I knew Audra was going to take me to the cabin.

"Miss Jameson." I glanced back at Will, to find him watching me go with an odd mix of emotions I couldn't grasp. "Thank you."

I smiled at him at least part of my irritation alleviated; Audra just smiled like a Cheshire cat as she led me back to our cabin. To my annoyance she left me alone. With a frustrated sigh I sat at the desk with a heavy sigh and began thumbing through the book she had left there.

"We'll be docking in Port Royal in the morning." A soft voice said, startling me enough I fell from my chair. I looked up from where I lay sprawled on the floor looking at the ghost of Will's wife.

"Damn it." I muttered as I picked myself up off the ground. "Why does that make you suddenly appear now?"

"The Nautilus will be anchored off shore, not far from where Will and Jack usually anchor the Pearl." She replied. "I can help you get back your amulet. In return I ask that you go back and set things right."

My mind worked quickly, I didn't want to go back and change things, fate had done its duty, and I had a feeling it wouldn't take kindly to my meddling. I knew that dreadful things could happen in my changing the past. I wasn't certain how I knew only that I did. Still I did want to go home and Elizabeth might just be the only person that could help me. I knew if I turned to either Will or Jack I stood the risk of loosing the amulet. It was not just any stone; I had had it appraised a few years before to find it was a very rare nearly flawless emerald. The worth of such a thing was incredible, and I wasn't about to trust a pirate when it came to a possible monetary gain.

"Okay." I said slowly, knowing that once I was out of this time she couldn't do anything anyhow. She nodded her understanding of my agreement and then set to work telling me exactly what I needed to do. I would have to track down the hat and the cloak Audra had given me. Then as soon as we anchored I was going to make my way to the Storm's Wake tavern. It seemed that was where the Nautilus's crew went for sustenance and entertainment. She would guide me on how to walk and act so that I could slip in and find Culligan. From there we would drug him and get him up to a room where we would steal my amulet from him and return to the Pearl. Once I was safe I would use the amulet to go back. According to Elizabeth it was then that I would make the change before returning to my own time. Looking back on it, it wasn't the most foolproof of plans, but at the time I wasn't too experienced.

I waited until Audra fell asleep that night too keyed up to sleep myself. I knew I was walking into a potentially dangerous situation, but all I cared about was getting that amulet back. I paced silently until I couldn't handle it and slipped out the door.

The night was cool and there was only the briefest of breezes that propelled the ship forward. The night watch patrolled the deck silently nodding to me as they passed. I glanced at the wheel to find to my surprise Jack Sparrow was not at it. Instead there was a woman, she did not acknowledge me instead she stared straight ahead. I had the urge to look in the direction she was staring in. Unable to help my curiosity I did and as I expected I found nothing.

Without a word I moved to the rail, near the spot I had been the first night I had been awake aboard the Black Pearl. The night was clear and the moon reflected off the water, in a silvery shimmering road across the gentle waves. The water was black and impenetrable, like a moving mirror of obsidian.

"I thought I warned you against walking the deck at night." I did not jump at his voice, it was almost as if I had sensed him there. I did not look back only shrugged as he moved to stand beside me. "I also believe Audra confined you to your cabin. Do you ever do as you're told?"

"Sometimes." I replied softly, still not looking at him. "If I see the purpose to it. However, I could not take another moment in that cabin. I've stared at the walls of it for days."

"The purpose is to keep you from harm." Will sighed "But I don't see you worrying too much about your own safety."

"Sometimes." I repeated finally looking at him with a faint smile. "Have you been drinking this night?"

"No." he responded with a rueful smile and looking out to the ocean. "I don't often allow myself to drink like that."

"I see." I teased. "I guess I was just the lucky one."

"I asked your pardon." He protested and with irritation. He leaned against the rail his forearms resting on in, his attention pinned on the water below. I thought I caught a brief bit of color in his cheeks that was darker than normal, but it might have been a trick of the moonlight.

"You are entirely too serious." I said with a sniff and a smile to soften it. "You need to lighten up a bit."

"Lighten up?" he questioned giving me an odd glance. I looked out at the water debating on whether to explain it. He made me so nervous and I was already suffering from the emotion. My heart was hammering in my chest and my hands were sweaty. I wasn't sure what had happened to me. All my life I had been a friend of the guys, a regular tomboy. I could usually handle them with an ease that left them oblivious to the fact they'd been handled. Never before had a guy been able to rattle me as much as this one could. I didn't like it, I didn't want it, and I was tired of reminding myself of Jeremy. The fact I had never felt like this around Jeremy only made me not want to analyze it all the more. The silence was stretching and I was suddenly afraid if I didn't say something he was going to leave. I could sense it; he was shifting his weight to turn.

"I was only jesting." I said with a sigh, offering something to the silence. I looked at him to see him looking down at me, and suddenly I wanted him to kiss me again. I wondered for a moment what he would do if I kissed him and the dismissed the idea. I was no longer in the 21st century, I was in the 18h and the last thing I wanted was to give him the wrong idea.

"I see." Was his response, he started at me for a moment as if trying to gauge something. I watched him struggle with it for a moment before he took a breath and said what he needed to say. "I know the Nautalis is heading for Port Royal, they were headed that way with the slaves they bought in Africa to trade."

"Is that so?" I responded tilting my head, and smiling sweetly. "I didn't know."

"From your response I find that hard to believe." He said his eyes narrowing. "Promise you won't go near the crew. Whatever they took from you isn't worth it."

"You don't know the worth of what they have." I argued. "If you feel responsible for me in some way, don't worry. Once I leave this ship you no longer have to worry. I've always been a woman to make my own decisions, I'll deal with the consequences."

"No you will not." Will returned. "Some man will have to extract you from the danger you put yourself into. Some man will get hurt attempting to get your fool neck out of the noose, when if you were just sensible and left men's work to the men ,you wouldn't find yourself in such a predicament."

"I have never had a man as my keeper." I retorted. "Nor do I need a keeper."

"You need a keeper more than most women." He growled. "Stay away from the Nautalis, unless to be quite brutal, you want to be raped, tortured, and left for dead. They're not men to be trifled with. You'd better hope if they do catch you, that they do exactly as I expect they will, before Malachi gets a hold of you and returns you to Ripley."

"Thanks." I said with none of the warmth usually afforded to such words. "I'll keep that in mind."

I turned to walk away, but he grabbed my upper arm and whirled me back around to face him. I found myself with my back against the rail and his arms on either side of me blocking me from escape.

"Listen to me well." Will hissed with more urgency than anger. "I can tell you're a headstrong woman, used to getting your own way, but for the sake of those around you don't put yourself in that kind of danger."

"I'm not Elizabeth." I snapped, regretting the words the moment they came out.

"I see." He said, his arms falling to his sides and his jaw clenching. I could tell he was fighting the temptation to grab me and shake me. "You're far more like her than you know. I know I married her, I loved her and I watched her die in my arms."

"And if I were to die in your arms?" I asked unable to keep myself from the question.

"I won't be there to hold you." Will said coldly. "And if I were there, I wouldn't."

He swept past me with a cold dignity that made my heart sink and did not look back as he disappeared up the stairs to the Captain's cabin.

Riot: Yeah, I'm not very nice to them am I? Oh well, it makes for a good read. Off the top of my head I don't have any suggestions, but I'll think about it. Thanks for the review!

Dreamer: Definitely some sparks in this chapter. Nah, she's not there to help Elizabeth, remember in the first one she was sent back because that was where she belonged. Lil's no different, though this one is going to explain why they're supposed to. It's not just maps Will's researching. Glad you enjoyed the chapter, I hope you enjoy this one too.

Kat: Thank you what a sweet compliment. I really try for a bit of realism in all of my stories. Thanks again!

Grams: Yeah, I'm always one that's great for contradictions. Life can be so much more interesting with them. Well stories anyways. It's okay I spend most of my time talking to myself. It's a definite habit. Glad you liked the ghost, the inspiration hit me for it and I loved the idea, it's nice to see someone else does too. The great part of your reviews are always the fact you get the jokes. I loved that part, but you were the only part that caught it. Of course there are only so many people that read Newsies and POTC. How was the KC fest?

XoXSilverDragonXox: Is there something shorter I can use, it's a long name to type out. Anyhoo, yes there's something happening with her and Will, not that she's ready or willing for it, but then none of my characters are. Thank you, it was really sweet of you to tell me that I'm a great writer. I certainly try. Sorry I didn't update sooner, I'll try to do better!


	10. Promises

The next morning I stood alone in the cabin, looking out across the waters from our little porthole window. A storm was brewing again. I could see the bruised clouds moving closer, lightning flickering in the distance. It appeared we had anchored. I wondered if we would be taking the small boats and rowing to shore today. I hoped not, the sea was choppy with the incoming storm. The floor underneath me bucked and was making me slightly queasy. I turned back to our empty cabin and made my way relatively steadily toward the desk thumping myself down into the chair.

Audra had been gone when I had awoken, and uncharacteristically I had remained where I was. I had no desire to run into Will again. It appeared he was going to be one of those people I loved to hate. He was attractive enough to make my spine tingle, with that serious look that begged for someone that could loosen him up, and a sorrow that made you want to heal him. He was an intoxicating mixture, I had only today or possibly tomorrow and I would be able to leave the Pearl behind forever. I wondered what Audra would make of it, I pondered with a snort. I had spent the past few days making her life miserable as I tried to find a way out of our cabin. Now that we were finally leaving the ship, I was content to stay in our cabin.

In boredom I thumbed through her herbal for a few minutes completely disinterested. Finally tiring with that after only a few minutes I began doodling on a blank page in what appeared to be her journal. Just as I was unable to stand the boredom any longer, the door opened and admitted a very happy and slightly blushing Audra. I said nothing, but I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head in question. She giggled and raised her arms which were full of fabric of two colors. One was a soft rich rose the other a rich golden bronze in the same tone. As I took in the cream colored linen that trimmed what was obviously a sleeve I was surprise to find they were dresses.

"Where did these come from?" I asked in delight taking the bronze dress that Audra handed me. I shook it out and held it up. Cream colored linen lay in a double flounce on the sleeves, overlaid with another flounce of the bronze. A cream colored fabric made up the stomacher of the bodice, and the full skirt had been expertly cut to swirl around the ankles without bunching too much at the waist. It was simple and some where in between upper and lower class. The middle class did not exactly exist in this time and the closest was the merchant class, which often dressed as well as the upper class.

"Damn." I looked up to find Morgan struggling not to trip on the froth of petticoats. Unable to help himself, his foot caught on one such offending garment and sent him sprawling down onto a bed of cream. Audra and I laughed unable to help it. It was comic, the look on Morgan's face only added to our amusement, as he looked up at us. He appeared baffled as we helped him to his feet and rescued the fabric from the floor.

"You can go Morgan, I think we can take it from here." Audra told him, he flashed us a thankful look before scampering off to do something far more manly. "Real womanly clothing, compliments of Jack."

"You certainly are getting quite a few gifts from good old Captain Sparrow." I said giving her a sly smile. She blushed and looked away from me as she shook out the second dress.

"I mentioned the fact that we couldn't very well find employment in Port Royal if we were not properly dressed. Particularly you. He told me there were some dresses in the hold that they had taken from a ship and haven't had any use for. He though about selling them, but he said without giving them to seamstress shop and commissioning them they may as well be rags to clean the hull with. He certainly doesn't have the time for that. Along with the dresses I was able to procure some undergarments for you." She told me her cheeks still rosy with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. "We won't be going to shore until the storm abates. If the waters don't calm until dark falls we'll have to wait until morning. Jack is afraid we might be dashed upon the rocks in the dingy, they'll be rowing us to shore in."

"Lovely." I said with sarcasm, looking toward the porthole. I needed off this boat and away, from everything. I needed my necklace and my way home.

There was a knock at the door and my gaze swung to it with curiosity. Audra however was nonplussed as she moved across the cabin and opened the door. My eyes narrowed as I saw Will standing in the doorway.

"Jack asked me to attend you. He had pressing matters to address with the crew." Will told her looking slightly apologetic. "He said you might have need of a couple pairs of hands so I caught the cabin boy in the hallway."

"The cabin boy?" I asked unable to hold back my irritation for the boy that had essentially saved my life. I had seen the flash of anger and sorrow in the younger Turner's eyes at his brother's classification of him. "Don't you mean, your brother? Or how about Morgan? That still too intimate for you? You could just call him Turner."

"Are you certain you need me Miss Audra?" Will asked completely ignoring me, but the grateful look in his brother's eyes had made it worth it. "I fear you are sewing her up for naught. I have a feeling she'll be laying dead in the dirt some time soon."

"Stop it both of you." She snapped, my eyes were caught with Will's what did he mean sew me up? "You lie down on the floor, and you kneel next to her head."

I looked at the bucking floor with some trepidation, then back to Audra who was rummaging about in her case of herbs and other healing odds and ends. It didn't take any long stretch of the imagination to figure out exactly what Audra needed help with. I felt a stab of fear, without any numbing agent this was going to be painful. Not to mention I wasn't certain how Audra was planning on sewing my shoulder closed with any sort of even stitching while the ship was being tossed on the waves. My nausea returned full force.

Looking up from the floor I could see everyone was waiting for me. Audra looked impatient, but I could see the compassion flickering in her eyes. Will was watching me with the sardonic look of someone who is about to see an enemy get their comeuppance, and his little brother watched me with worry.

"Frightened?" Will asked me with a lift of his lips that settled into a mocking smile.

"No." I hissed flopping to the floor and lying down. "Could we get this over with, the sooner we get to shore the happier I'll be."

"Perhaps you should be." Will said as he knelt near my head. "this will be the least of what you have to look forward to if you insist on following your foolish and dangerous path."

"I can take care of myself just fine _Master_ Turner." I said scathingly. "Audra would you hurry it up."

I found it was far easier to respond in anger than to let Mister Turner see my worry. 'I had a tattoo for crying out loud,' I tried to reassure myself. 'An hour of constant pain without relief, I can do this, really it should be nothing."

Audra proceeded with calm, as she gently loosened the ties that held my shirt about my shoulders. She held the center of the shirt to my chest as she had Morgan slide my arm free of the shirt, leaving my shoulder bare. Will leaned down, one hand on either side of my head, his hands gently, but firmly resting on my shoulder and the arm of my injured shoulder. The silence was deafening and I remembered the loud rock music of the tattoo parlor, at the time it had annoyed me, but now I would be grateful for the distraction. I watched as Audra threaded the needle with sinew and squeezed my eyes shut. What I wouldn't give for someone there so that I could squeeze their hand. Who had been with me during my tattoo? I frantically tried to remember as there was a stab of pain when Audra pushed the edges of the wound together. I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my pursed lips.

"Hold the wound like this." Audra ordered Morgan, who complied causing another whimper; I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth trying as best I could to keep from embarrassing myself further.

"Look at me." The order from Will came as a surprise and my eyes popped open to look directly into his. They were warm as they watched me the compassion I had seen in Audra's now his. "If you keep your attention on me it will be easier."

I don't know about that." I grumbled, he gave me a smile and nodded encouragingly. I looked down to find Audra's hands only inches from my flesh the needle tightly held in one hand. "Oh shit." I cried before squeezing my eyes shut again.

"Keep looking at me Lillia." Will ordered softly I snapped my eyes open again and I cursed myself for the fear that surely was in them. His hand slipped down, his elbow still pinning my good arm and wove his fingers through mine. "Hold on tight. It will be alright, I promise." I wanted desperately to believe him. The feel of the needle entering my flesh made my back arch and my jaw clench painfully in an effort not to cry out. My hand spasmed and clenched Will's tightly.

"Don't look away." He whispered, my mind slowed taking in every moment and searing it into my mind. His brown eyes watching me with encouragement and worry, his breath smelling of cloves, his face was so close to mine our noses were practically touching. It was as if he were trying to take up my entire attention so that none would be spared for the pain.

Despite what had passed between us I found my eyes drifting to his mouth and I wondered what it would taste like. I licked my lips. My eyes snapped back to his when the thread was tightened and Audra dipped into my flesh again. Will's eyes were gentle and with a hint of sorrow as if he were apologetic it was painful. He never relaxed, his strength pinning me to the floor to keep me still enough that Audra could sew the wound closed. The wound was deep enough and long enough that it was going to take two layers of stitches to keep it closed; I wondered if the sinew would ever dissolve or if I would forever walk around with the thread in me.

Tears leaked from my eyes silently with only an occasional whimper when I couldn't handle it any longer. After what seemed like an eternity the needle stopped and I could feel Audra tying off the thread that was holding my flesh together.

"You did well." Audra said, as Will let me go, and I sat calmly wiping away the tears that had dampened my hair. My shoulder burned like fire.

"I'll be on my way then." Will mumbled, he gave me one last unreadable look before he slipped out the door. I looked back at Audra, who gave me a reassuring smile.

"Don't even think of it." A voice whispered through the cabin, I looked to Audra who was thanking Morgan as she led him to the door. There was a deadliness that was frightening. I wasn't certain if it was because it came from someone dead and therefore was naturally frightening with its otherworldly sound, or that perhaps that even in life she had been that cold. "He's mine and always will be. We were connected from childhood and no one can come between us."

"Well death appeared to come between you just fine." I muttered. "If you want my help you would do well to remember I can control the necklace not you and it is you that needs the favor from me. It isn't smart to threaten me."

"What was that?" I looked up to find Audra standing a few feet away her face worried. "Are you hearing things Lillia?"

"I'm fine, just trying to work some things out in my head." I said airily waving my good hand as I worked to get my injured shoulder back into my shirt. I would have to be more careful when communicating with Will's dead wife.

I spent the remainder of the day in the cabin dozing and daydreaming, and wishing for home. I prayed that I would survive long enough to get home and that I would regain my necklace. After a quick turn about the ship just before dinner, Audra gave me a small dose of laudanum in my tea and I fell into restless sleep that lasted for the remainder of the day and well into the next morning.

I awoke to dimness, looking to the portal I saw only gray. Fog coated the waters and it seemed the crew breathed a sigh of relief. There had been some tension coming into the waters close to Port Royal. Will's explanation hung in my mind. It appeared the crew was loyal enough that they worried for their Captain and First Mate. Luckily the fog served as a shield, no boats would be searching for pirates in waters with this poor visibility, and it would be less likely they would be seen.

Audra was once again gone, but she returned after only a few minutes. I was still contemplating whether or not to get out of bed or roll over and go back to sleep.

"Let's get you dressed." She said with a cheerfulness that frankly irritated me, I've never been much of a morning person. She helped me from to my feet and slowly she helped me dress. She exclaimed in satisfaction when she had finished tying the laces across the back of the bodice. I looked down at it and couldn't help a sigh at its simplicity. It was a poor replacement for the sea green dress that had been lost on my journey thus far. Still it wouldn't do for me to be better dressed than those I was to work for. I sat patiently as she brushed my long hair and pinned it up.

"Thank you." I said softly trying desperately to ignore the pain that was shooting down into my fingers. I sat silently in the desk chair and watched as Audra dressed herself, trying desperately to breathe correctly. The corset had been slightly too small, just as the dress was small and I breathed shallowly. It was making me feel dizzy and I forced myself to concentrate on my breathing until I was breathing as comfortably as possible through my diaphragm. Once Audra was dressed we wove our way through the ever moving ship to the deck where boats were waiting to take us to shore.

The first person we came upon was Will. I watched him as he worked, his sleeves rolled up until just past the elbow as he pulled on the ropes that would raise the dingy. His eyes slid to us and back again before he took a quick double take. He seemed startled at the visions of femininity before his eyes. His eyes lingered on me and there was a pain in them that made me want to reach out and comfort him. I broke contact before I did something that would embarrass us both..

"So you're leaving us lady?" I looked down to see Morgan Turner on my left. He watched me with soft eyes and I knew I was leaving behind an admirer. It was too bad he was so much younger than his brother; he was an improvement that was certain.

"Yes Morgan. We're going to shore, perhaps when you dock next in Port Royal we'll see each other again." I said gently not wanting to hurt the lad's feelings, after all he had saved my life, or at least attempted it. Though with some luck, and the help of a ghost I really couldn't help in return, I would probably be gone then.

"Damn fool women," a man muttered as I had wondered past looking to the shore I couldn't see. "Unlucky the lot of them, they'll get us tossed into jail and hung."

It appeared that the Commodore Norrington, Will had told me of wasn't too keen on this particular bunch of sailors. I had over heard a whispering argument between Jack and the man that I passed the night before, about the foolishness of sailing near Port Royal. It appeared though, that Jack was a man of his word and was taking us in despite the danger to both him and his crew. Part of me thought it was in part to thumb his nose at the authorities of Port Royal, and to snicker when he snuck away while they were none the wiser.

Just vaguely I could make out land and I stared hard through the fog, my eyes seeing bits of a cliff as the clouds swirled around us. Elation and fear filled me, danger was courting me I could feel it. I might not get away from the crew of the Nautilus alive, but I would rather die trying.

"Contemplating your death are you?" A voice whispered near my ear. I shivered, though whether it was in reaction to his breath tickling my ear or the uncanny reading of my thoughts I wasn't certain. "That is what will happen should you not keep your distance from the crew of the Nautalis."

I turned my head to look into his eyes, my face set in a haughty demeanor. What stopped me from retorting was the fear that lurked there. He truly feared for me, should I continue to seek what was lost to me.

"I have no choice Will." I told him. "What was lost is worth more than any precious stone. This goes beyond family heirlooms and riches. It has far more than sentimental value to me. I need it, or I'll never be able to return home and that is something I have to do. I do not belong on this ship or in Port Royal. Don't fear for me William, if I die trying to redeem what is mine, it would be far less a problem than if I stay here."

"Nothing is worth more than your life." He hissed urgently his hands gripping my upper arms. "Nothing do you understand me?"

"When you say this you are thinking of Elizabeth, of your wife. You've said before that you see her in me and that might be true, but know that it is not a foolish reason I go courting death. Unlike her, I am not rushing into this blind. I am not look for adventure or action. I know what lies before me and I have no other choice. You don't have to save me to feel as though you've somehow redeemed yourself for not being able to save your wife. I don't belong here, I don't belong among you. I can't explain it Will, you wouldn't understand or you'd think me mad."

"Try me." He said firmly, as though if I could just give him a good reason he could let me go. "Living day in and day out with Jack Sparrow stretches your range as to what you deem madness." I looked into those orbs the color of the deepest amber and for a moment I almost relented. I almost took him into my confidence and would have asked for his help. I knew I couldn't do this on my own. I knew this was a man's world. Unlike my great-grandmother I understood this fully and I had no other choice.

"The boats are ready. Miss Audra?" One of the sailors inturuped us and I looked to him thankfully. I could trust no one; I could get attached to no one. I knew it couldn't lie in my destiny to stay here. Also unlike my great-grandmother, I had family and friends that needed me back home. I had a love, a betrothed and I couldn't forsake the promise to marry him. Audra glanced back at me before taking his hand and settling herself with the other crew member on the small boat that would be rowed to shore. Jack meandered past with his usual rolling gait.

"Very interesting." He said again looking at the two of us before continuing on to give his farewells to Audra.

"It's time for me to go." I said pulling my good arm away, afraid for my bad I did not tug, but he released it any how. "Forget about me Will. Stick true to your earlier promise. Sail from these waters and forget me. I most assuredly will do the same the moment I set foot on the shore."

I turned from him and did not look back. I allowed myself to be helped into the boat, my eyes to the waters and land. Purposefully I looked kept my word and I didn't look back. When we reached the shore and we were helped from the boat I risked a glance back. The boat was as hidden from me as the shore had been earlier. For a moment though the fog parted and I could see a man standing at the rail, his eyes burning across the water to land. For a moment it appeared he looked at me before turning and walking away. My heart sank a little, as I knew it had been Will Turner. Why his walking away hurt me I don't know, but I wasn't about to let myself be caught by it.

"Leave him." A voice ordered in my ear, caught on the wind it gave me shivers and I knew that Elizabeth had followed us. I looked back to shore and the steep road we would have to take around the cliff that would eventually lead us into Port Royal. The men did not give us farewells as they slipped into their boat and turned back for shore and we did not look back again.

_I'm not certain that anyone will remember what they wrote it's been so long since I've updated this story, but here come the S.O.'s anyway._

_Detroit: They do an awful lot of jumping back and forth between the getting along and not, but it's more interesting that way. Makes when they do get together so much more fulfilling. Thanks for your review by the way. Oh and I did catch your request to update this chapter in your DTD review. This chapters for you honey. _

_Silver Dragon: Forgive me for leaving out the X's & O's. Thanks for your sweet compliments. I live for reviews, just as every writer here does. I'll have to check out your updated. Will is mean, he's had some tough blows, but he'll get better, they always do._

_Grams: Cabin fever, is there nothing worse when your sick or injured than to be stuck in the same room? The period phrasing is a little more difficult in this than in any newsies fic. More formal, I'm glad I'm getting the hang of it though. Amulet next. As always I look forward to your reviews, thanks._

_Ciara Lewis: He is mean, he's supposed to be, Elizabeth's death has marked him just as it should. Elizabeth isn't really evil, she just wants her life back, her husband back. She made a selfish choice that is hurting Will and it's changed her too. I think I've updated BWF since the last time I updated this one, I'll try to get another update soon. Thank you for your review._

_Riot: Oh where, oh where has Riot gone……………no updates on your end for a long time. Let alone any reviews. Yeah, he is that type of man, he'll be there to help her even when he doesn't want to. Part of him does see this as a way to redeem himself for Elizabeth's death. I like this Will, since when have I ever written an overeager puppy? Even Mush has that dark streak in him. After all we all want a good boy that has a bit of bad underneath. That is the true ultimate man. Thanks you for your review honey, and get updating damn it!_

_Dreamer: Here you go, here's the story I've contemplated letting to. It was a struggle to get through this chapter. I'm not certain why, but it was pretty difficult. Can't wait for that update you've promised. Haven't seen it yet kiddo. Get crackin! Thanks for the review. _


End file.
